Author's Note: Ah, I love the smell of paranoia on the eve of a Bones season-ending cliffhanger... Only one episode is left before the evil Bones writers unleash whatever horrors they're gleefully planning. Are you scared? I am.

Speaking of evil writers and scary paranoia, if you're not reading Wendish's Conspiracy Theory, get over there and prepare to have your minds blown. Yikes! (And I mean that yikes in a good, OMG this is amazing-I can't stop reading-when is the next update!? kind of way.)

~Q~

Fan Mail - Hunters and Howlers

~Q~

"There's no threat and it wasn't mailed; this isn't an FBI concern." Special Agent Leo Cronin set the photocopy of Brennan's expletive-laden letter down, shaking his head. His desk was already piled high with threat evaluations on various government staffers who found themselves on the receiving end of unsolicited hate. Though Dr. Brennan did contract to the Federal Government and that did entitle her to a moment of his expertise, Cronin knew a low risk situation when he saw one.

At least, that's what Booth guessed the local expert on risk analysis was thinking. The cynical agent must have decided this was basement level stuff (as in, the source of the letter probably never left his mother's basement except to take his annual shower). Or as in: basement dwelling, slavering fans warranted a basement level of alarm.

His fellow Special Agent, Seeley (the Suspicious) Booth wasn't convinced, however. "Look, I just need an expert opinion on the record. Is this guy someone to worry about?"

Cronin had spent fifteen years investigating celebrity stalkers in the Los Angeles field office before moving to his current post in protective intelligence, where he investigated the same kinds of wing-nuts but these ones were mostly chasing Federal employees rather than entertainers. Letters like this one arrived by the dozens daily, and varied only in the creative ways they managed to word what they wanted with the object of their lust (or venom). If anyone could make a good guess on the risk, Booth figured Cronin was it. The trouble was, Cronin seemed reluctant to open yet another file on the basis of one letter.

"He was looking at her picture and started dreaming about her reaction when she reads his magnum opus." With a grim little twist of his lips, Cronin dismissed the missive with a vulgar gesture. "The guy probably jerked off writing it. He's blown his wad."

"You're talking about my partner," Booth growled. "Have some respect."

"Booth, these guys... How can I put this so that your delicate Catholic ears don't burn?"

Now he was taking heat for demanding respect for his highly educated, professional, (genius!) partner who worked tirelessly in the cause of justice? "This has nothing to do with me being Catholic."

Leo chuckled. "Yeah, I get it. Some guy is making lewd remarks about your girl so now you got your boxers in a twist."

"My partner. An expert in her field who also happens to be a valuable asset to the FBI." This was going nowhere. He snatched up the letter and the notes, on the verge of leaving.

Believing the unspoken threat that Booth was about to take his toys and go home, the other agent relented. "Look, I'm just jerking your chain. You made it too easy, the way your ears turned all red."

Of course his face was red, because he couldn't stand the thought of some disgusting troll drooling over Bones, objectifying her and... He couldn't complete the thought without feeling the heat burning in him again. The rage made him want to say a few more Hail Marys, a few more Our Fathers, pray the Rosary a few times in anticipation of avoiding the penance to come. At the rate he was going, Father Mackey would make him do the Stations of the Cross. Groaning at the thought, Booth stopped at the partial apology and hoped Cronin's serious evaluation might yet save him from so much time spent on the kneeler.

The guy was finally offering an olive branch, or at least one serious reading. Maybe. Booth turned to pin his reluctant playmate with an impatient scowl. "Are you going to look into this, or not?"

"Sit."

A command only an obedient dog would obey. Booth narrowed his eyes on the older man, negotiating for more than an analysis by his refusal to allow disrespect. "I'll stand. I've got an identity theft and bank fraud issue to look into since you think this is such a waste of your time."

Something about the way he said it must have registered because Agent Cronin perked up. "Bank fraud?"

Well, it was reaching, just slightly. Just enough of a reach to feel the muscles burn. Booth edged further back into the cramped little office. "The guy sent her flowers, really expensive roses with those cryptic notes, using a stolen credit card."

"These notes?" Sent on someone else's dime. Finally the threat assessor looked down at the photocopy of the two note cards, with their odd messages.

Sweetheart, you work too long and too hard.
I'll take you away from all of this.

"Yeah, and since I spoke to you on the phone this morning, there's been a phone call."

Cronin's relaxed posture vanished, his spine snapping to attention. "Well why didn't you say so?!"

"You were too busy maligning my Catholic respect for women," Booth retorted.

Cronin ignored that, having reverted to all business. "What did the caller say?"

"'Can you feel the evil eye on you? He is watching.'"

"Hmmm. It's not the same guy."

"What?"

Leo picked up the letter again and waved it. "What I was trying to say before you got all bashful, is that we say there are two general kinds of stalkers out there. You got the hunters and you got the howlers. I mean, that's the terms we started using. The hunters don't announce themselves. You used to be a sniper, right? I'm sure you didn't send notes ahead letting your target know you were out there. It was just ... bang!"

A reluctant agreement, followed by a wince.

"That's how hunters operate: most of the time you don't know they're out there until they strike. Then you got the howlers. They make a lot of noise but usually, they're harmless. Now this guy..." again the paper moved, the letter fanning cool air between them "...he's getting off on writing this and imagining your partner's reaction to it. He doesn't actually care if she ever sees it, for him the fantasy of her reaction will probably be enough. He's a howler."

"How do you know?"

"Oh, God, there was a whole study. Some eggheads analyzed letters from stalkers based on every permutation you can imagine to see if there was any predicable pattern in the letters that suggested a physical threat. You're gonna laugh, but I'm telling you the reasons why this letter isn't your biggest problem. You ready?"

Booth lifted his hand in a lay-it-on-me gesture.

"Number one: he used lined notebook paper."

And right on schedule, Booth sputtered out a laugh. "Seriously?"

"I told you, don't laugh. The numbers don't lie."

"Lined notebook paper means something?"

"Statistically, guys who use this kind of paper don't approach."

This was unbelievable.

"Next, he admits that he doesn't know her and she doesn't know him. That is very significant. There aren't any personal details anywhere in this letter."

Uncertainly, Booth inquired. "That's normal for a fan letter, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but not in the ones you gotta worry about. The howlers who cause the most problems think they're in a relationship with the target. She's his girlfriend or sister, for example. He'd write things about his family, tell her about his dog, that sort of thing. He'd ask her why she's ignoring him."

Okay, so maybe this anonymous thing wasn't so dangerous, Booth decided, finally relaxing a little.

Leo started in with the teasing once more. "Finally, he wrote about sex. You're going to have to get over your prudish ways, Booth. We're gonna talk about sex."

"Shove it, Leo."

Leo laughed, letting Booth know it was all in good fun. "It's all about the fantasy, and the way he writes it, this guy doesn't actually want to consummate anything. He's got it all going on in his head, see? If he actually met her, that would blow the whole thing over. Ruin it. He likes the distance."

"Okay, so you're saying this letter, the disgusting one, is harmless?"

"Probably. Odds skew highly in favor of that being a sex-starved howler. But these other notes and the phone call, they're ... odd."

"Odd, how?"

"A mix of howler styles; it's unusual. You should take these down to Quantico."

Although he definitely wanted to do that very thing, he didn't have time to run downstate just yet, not with so much being flung at him here in DC (Angela's friendly fire, fraud & phone calls). Frustrated, Booth snapped, "What's odd? Can't you just tell me what you think?"

"He's covering his tracks with the stolen credit and anonymous delivery to her work place, plus the threats are innuendos deeply concealed under a seemingly romantic or warning style of communication. It's like Casanova meets Deep Throat."

"That's just..." Ew. Booth wondered if all the twisted fan mail over so many years had warped Cronin's mind a little. He shook it off. "...creepy."

Cronin studied the notes carefully, his lips moving forward and backwards as if he were unconsciously chewing on his thoughts. "What was that phone message again?"

"I'll write it down." Booth grabbed a Post-it, scribbling it out. Brennan had done the same right after hanging up, which was one of the reasons Booth trusted her recall was probably perfect.

Grabbing the sticky note, Cronin slapped it down, arranging the three notes in the order received as well as grouping them by method of delivery. The letter had been set aside and the threat assessor stared down at the notes with dawning insight. Booth watched his face shifting expressions as he read each note and then muttered, "he changed subjects."

"What?"

Cronin pointed. "He changed the subject of each sentence. First, you. Next, I. Finally, you and then he."

Sweetheart, you work too long and too hard.
I'll take you away from all of this.

Can you feel the evil eye on you? He is watching.

"What does grammar have to do with anything?"

"He's trying to establish a relationship with her. First. He notices her and what is important to her: that she works long hours. The first note is about her as a person. Second. He wants to intervene with her, show her the world outside of her work in some way. Or, maybe he wants to protect her. The second note is about what he's going to do for her.

"The third note is a warning. The evil eye, 'he' is watching..." Here Cronin paused, thinking. Suddenly he twisted around and dove into a file cabinet, fingers dancing across the tabs until they pinched tight over a file bearing a female senator's name.

"This guy." The file flapped open, papers slapping sideways and slipping half across the desk as he hastily paged through them. Cronin started explaining while seeking out the report that had snagged his memory and dragged this old case out into the light. "He, uh, thought Senator Crosswell was in danger from some crazy-ass conspiracy. You know, like he'd watched The X-Files too much or something. Said aliens were colonizing the earth and some shadowy network of bad guys was going to blow her away. He didn't think her security detail was good enough so he was going to take over."

That was ... Booth felt his brows pop up with shock. This had to be the weirdest stalking case ever, right? "Wow."

"Yeah, I mean, the guy was nuts. But — and here's the key — he was a bigger threat to the security staff surrounding Senator Crosswell than he was to the Senator herself. He tried to shoot one of her bodyguards, said the guy was part of the shadow syndicate."

Stunned, Booth turned from the weird communications to the Crosswell file, then back to Cronin. "You think this is the same kind of crazy?"

"I don't know. For now, I think we need to bump your partner's case higher up the food chain. I'm opening an official file." He pulled out some forms and handed them to Booth. "Have her fill these in, giving me as much background as she can. Meanwhile, you need to get BSU on these messages and Booth..."

The warning was unmistakable, even before he said it.

"Keep an eye on the security staff at the Jeffersonian. They might be the ones most in danger."

"What about Bones? I mean, she's the one I'm worried about."

"She may be in danger, too," Cronin admitted. "If this guy perceives some act of hers as a change in allegiance, a defection or betrayal of some kind, he might turn into a hunter."

~Q~

Author's Note: Whoa. Bet you didn't expect that! Now you might be wondering ... how evil is this writer? (Hint: VERY!) :P

In case you've also been wondering why that Covalent Bond girl never sends out timely thank you notes any more, hopefully you'll forgive her when you check out the reading list below. That's over 1000 pages of reading, crammed in between life, labs, studying, writing and occasional hours wasted on sleep. :P

Scientific Note: Look out, references below! The study Cronin mentioned in this chapter is the one authored by J. Reid Meloy.

1) Dietz, P. E., Matthews, D. B., Van Duyne, C., Martell, D. A., Parry, C. D. H., Stewart, T., Warren, J., and Crowder, J. D., "Threatening and Otherwise Inappropriate
Letters to Hollywood Celebrities," Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFSCA, Vol. 36, No. 1, Jan. I991, pp. 185-209.

2) Fein, Robert A. and Bryan Vossekuil, Protective Intelligence and Threat Assessment Investigations: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement Officials, US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. July 1998. pp 1-65.

3) J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D. Communicated Threats and Violence Toward Public and Private Targets: Discerning Differences Among Those Who Stalk and Attack. J Forensic Sci 2001; 46(5):1211–1213.

4) Calhoun, Frederick S. (2012-08-22). Threat Assessment and Management Strategies: Identifying the Howlers and Hunters. Taylor and Francis CRC ebook account. Kindle Edition.

5) Meloy, J. Reid and Jens Hoffmann, Editors. International Handbook of Threat Assessment. Oxford University Press, USA. Kindle Edition. (2013-11-05).

6) Kessler, Ronald, The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency. Pocket Books, 1993.

~Q~

Sorry to be so wordy, but if one person asked, probably quite a few just silently wondered...

Catholic Note: Someone asked for a bit more information on the Catholic references in Booth's thoughts. Briefly, I'll describe what those things are so non-Catholics aren't confused. Catholicism is one of the three main branches of Christianity (for those who aren't Christian).

"Good" Catholics go to Mass (church) at least once a week. If they've sinned, they must go to confession before they can partake of the Eucharist during Mass. (Other Christians may call it Communion, or the Lord's Supper.) The priest/preacher blesses bread and wine, and the members of the church drink it to remember (or in the case of Catholics) recreate Jesus Christ's sacrifice for mankind.

After confessing one's sins, the priest usually gives a penance. Often the penance is a combination of specific prayers plus some kind of restitution or redirection. If you stole something, for example, you return or replace it. If you got angry, you have to pray for the person you are angry with or do something kind for him. If you are assigned prayers, the priest will say something like, "pray five Hail Mary's and five Our Fathers." Catholics refer to these prayers by the first words in the prayer.

"Hail Mary" is a prayer that Catholics use when praying the Rosary and especially during times of stress, asking Mary to pray to God on their behalf. Catholics feel this is equivalent to asking friends to pray for us when we're going through rough times. It's taken from the greeting that the Angel Gabriel gave to Mary when he announced she would become pregnant.

"Our Father" is also known to other Christians as 'The Lord's Prayer.' Jesus taught it to His disciples as the best way to pray. I think this version (the one Catholics recite at every Mass) is the one given in the Gospel of Matthew:

"Glory be" is very short and I think only Catholics say it.

When praying the Rosary, Catholics recite all three of these prayers in combination with reflecting on events from the life of Jesus and special meditation.

The Stations of the Cross is more complicated, but basically a Catholic prays the above prayers plus special prayers and mediation while progressing through a series of pictures (stations) showing 14 events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At each station you must reflect on the meaning of what happened (for example, the first station is traditionally Jesus praying to God in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was arrested), mediate on what it means to you, say a prayer specific to that event, then say the three prayers mentioned above before moving to the next station. Catholics often pray the Stations of the Cross during Lent (the 40 days before Good Friday/Easter Sunday).

It can also be assigned as a penance, which is what I had Booth fretting about. It's very time-consuming. ;)