Thank you everyone for your reviews. Lauwy (you were right about Caroline), ZinaR (yes hot indeed lol!), aadams00, 554Laura, RobinAngelena (agree), Vmf447 (yeah he doesn't), FaithinBones (I think to Logan, it was about being there for his brother, I'd like to think Booth identifies with it because of Jared), GalaxieGurl (I'm glad I had the time too!), mendenbar, topaz270, jsboneslove, bookwormlady (don't worry, it'll get resolved soon), regbride12.
Don't worry about Booth guys, much as we like to believe he's Superman, he still needs time to heal up.
Still feeling the effects of his kidnapping, Booth decided to go home after he had concluded his interrogation of Logan. He knew if he didn't, Caroline would have insisted on driving him home. He also wanted to take some time to spend the rest of the day with his two children. Aubrey got back to the Booth residence in time to prepare a sumptuous feast for Booth and the two children. A feast, Booth knew his wife would not approve of with an abundance of red meat and other artery-clogging foods but after almost a week with just half a slice of bread, he figured it couldn't hurt. After an equally decadent dessert that the children also enjoyed before bed, Booth felt as if he had made up for the five days without food.
"Are you going to be here when I wake up Daddy?" Christine asked, as Booth closed the book he had been reading to Hank and her.
"You betcha Princess." Booth kissed the top of his little girl's head.
"You promise the bad men are not gonna take you away again?"
"I promise." Booth felt a pang of guilt at making Christine worry for him. "And Mommy's going to be home soon too okay?"
"Okay." Christine replied, satisfied that her parents weren't going to disappear again. She closed her eyes. "Goodnight Daddy."
"Goodnight Sweetheart. I love you."
Booth slowly slipped out of Christine's bed and gathered a sleeping Hank into his arms. He felt heartened to know that his arms no longer trembled as he held his son close to him. Surely he was regaining his strength. With one hand, he pulled the covers up over Christine, then turned on her night light before leaving her room, making sure to leave her room door ajar.
He walked across to Hank's room, placing the little boy on his bed. Similar to what he did with Christine, he pulled the covers up over Hank and placed a kiss to the boy's forehead. He made his way back to his bedroom, placing a phone call to Brennan. They spoke for a short while, as he made sure she was okay and updated her on the case. He was glad to hear that Angela had dropped by to visit and that she was feeling better. After ending the call to Brennan, he made his way to join Aubrey in the family room.
The day almost over, Booth began to feel his eyelids grow heavy as he relaxed on the couch, his feet on the coffee table, as he half-watched the game on tv. He had been advised to avoid alcohol by his doctors and that was advice Aubrey had made sure he followed.
"I didn't know you stocked up the freezer with so many flavors of ice cream." Booth said to Aubrey who was on the couch next to him watching the game with a bottle of cold beer in hand.
"Kids missed Mommy and Daddy. Dessert was one of my ways of distracting them."
"Can't thank you enough."
"For the dinner, stocking the freezer with ice cream or saving your ass?"
Booth chuckled. "How about all of the above?"
"You know I'm terribly fond of those two kids right? They're like my own niece and nephew."
"They love you too Aubrey. They trusted you and knew they were safe as long as you were here."
Aubrey shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "I hated to think they'd have to grow up without you and Dr Brennan."
"They're lucky to have their Uncle Aubrey."
"Look don't yell at me but maybe you should leave the rest of the case to me? I'll track down Jake and Fred Lipinski. Bring them in."
"I'm going to see this though."
"That's nuts, you're still recovering."
"I'll be fine."
"You don't seem fine. And don't think I didn't notice."
"What are you Bones now?"
"Hey I promised her."
"I had a concussion okay? And I didn't get enough to eat or drink for five days. I just need time to get back to a hundred percent."
"And that's exactly why you shouldn't be chasing down a wanted criminal."
"I'll be good as new in a couple of days all right? Quit your worrying Grandpa."
Aubrey sighed rising from the couch. "I don't even know why I try. I'm gonna fix myself a bedtime snack. Want some?"
Booth felt as if he could eat, but figured what he needed more was rest. "Nah. I'm gonna get some sleep."
"Suit yourself."
"Hey Aubrey." Booth called after his friend who had made his way to the kitchen. He could be a pain, but he appreciated the younger man's concern. "Thanks."
…
"Hey Bones." Booth greeted her as he strode into the bone room. She was seated at the light table, examining the very same set of remains she had studied in the woods.
"Hi Booth." She smiled as he entered and the couple shared a quick kiss. In the past, Brennan's office had been a place where they enjoyed quiet moments together, some more affectionate than others, especially when the work day was over with less people in the lab. Kissing wasn't something they did often in the bone room in the middle of the day, but after their narrow escape, both had felt the need for more frequent shows of affection. Brennan had been discharged that morning as planned, one day after Booth. She had refused to go home but had insisted Booth drop her straight at the lab. Booth had grudgingly agreed then went back to the Hoover. He had spent the morning going over Becky's old case files and after lunch decided he should pay his wife a visit at the lab.
"You did have something to eat right?"
"Yes, Angela brought me a lunch from the diner."
Noticing Booth's look, she added, "It was a tofu omelette. I am mindful that I need to replace the caloric deficit my body had suffered."
"How's the ankle?"
"Not hurting too badly. Besides, I'm sitting most of the time."
Satisfied that she was okay, Booth nodded at Becky Lipinski's remains. "Anything?"
"Cam had already confirmed identity with dental records as you already know. Many of the injuries corroborate Logan's account of systemic childhood abuse."
"So back in the woods, you said she broke her neck. That cause of death?"
"Yes."
"But there's no way we can tie it back to her father?"
"It would be difficult to."
Booth sighed. He had hoped to help the young girl find justice.
"We do know someone threw her down what was probably a flight of stairs."
"Yeah… they like to do that."
Noticing the distant look in Booth's eyes, Brennan snapped off her gloves, slipping her hand into his. She squeezed his hand, "I'm glad that you didn't end up like her when your Dad did that to you."
"Me too." Choosing not to focus on his past, Booth shifted his thoughts to the present. "Could it have been Logan or Jake?"
"Fourteen-year-old Logan was too slight to pick her up and do so, though Jake who was eighteen at the time had the strength to do so."
"Yeah doesn't make sense though. If it were Jake."
"You're right. From what you've told me about why they took us, it seems very unlikely that Jake did it. I could have Angela run a scenario to postulate the height of the person who threw her. That would conclusively rule out Jake."
"That was what the brothers wanted. To prove it wasn't Jake so the real killer could be caught. They're convinced it was their Dad."
"Any luck in tracking him down?"
"Not yet. Aubrey's still looking."
"The area where Becky's remains were found is very remote. One would have to have extensive knowledge of the area coupled with basic forensic knowledge in order to have located her remains after so this many years. Jake couldn't have learnt it from his short stint at the police academy. They had to be extremely fortunate to have chanced upon the area to know where to start digging."
Brennan's words triggered something in Booth's mind. "Bones… I think, maybe we've got it wrong."
"No I didn't get anything wrong. That I'm certain."
"No not you, me. My gut was telling me something Logan said didn't add up. You're right there was no way they'd know where to start digging."
"You're saying Jake did kill Becky?"
"Not Jake."
"Logan?"
"Get Angela to run that scenario on her computer. The one you were talking about. Text me once you know."
"Okay."
"Look, I can't be sure but I'll tell you once I am." And with that, Booth hurried out of the lab. For once, Brennan was the one left standing in the lab, wondering what someone else had figured out.
…
"You lied to me Logan." Booth said as he took the seat opposite Logan, the scene almost identical to the day before when Booth interrogated him, only this time Aubrey was in the room with them. Booth knew from what Brennan had told him that Logan couldn't have been the killer. A text from Brennan had informed him that Angela had confirmed that neither Jake nor Logan could have threw her down the stairs. He would use that piece of information to his advantage.
"I know you're not gonna talk, so I'm gonna do the talking for you. We know that Becky died when someone threw her down a flight of stairs, breaking her neck in the fall. The lab has proven that Jake couldn't have been the one. It could have been you, or your stepfather, Fred. But I think it was you. You knew all along where Becky's body had been buried."
Logan sat up, eyes wide, staring straight at Booth who was still speaking.
"That forest is huge. You'd have to know exactly where to dig before you'd find her. You and Jake, you had no training in forensics. I looked at Becky's old case files. You were the one who gave a statement telling the cops that she was last seen in school the day she went missing. What didn't add up was that nobody else remembers seeing Becky at school that day. So you were deliberately trying to throw the cops off."
"No!" Logan cried, slamming his palms on the table. "No! I didn't kill her!"
"It had to be you, you knew where to find her body. Bones said that even for someone with training, it would take some time to find the remains. But you said yourself that you found the body not long after Jake got out on parole."
"It wasn't me!" Logan insisted.
"Then how'd you know where to look?" Aubrey asked, finally speaking.
"I didn't kill Becky all right? It was my stepdad. I helped him bury her, but I didn't kill her."
The tears streamed down his face as he spoke.
"It was late one night. Mom was at work and Jake was out somewhere getting drunk or high or whatever. I was in my room. Dad was yelling at Becky for burning his dinner. Then I heard a sound like something falling down the stairs. Next thing I know, Dad's in my room. I went out and I saw Becky just lying there at the bottom of the stairs. He made me help him. Made me dig this hole and he put Becky in it. Said he'd kill me and Mom if I ever told anyone."
"I never told anyone," he sobbed. "But it's the truth, I swear!"
Booth bit his lip. His anger at Fred Lipinski grew. "I believe you Logan."
Logan stopped crying, composing himself. "I didn't want them to think Jake did it, I wanted to tell the cops but I was so scared."
"You were right to be scared. You were only fourteen."
"I loved her. I loved my little sister."
"I know." Booth said gently.
"We never meant to hurt you and Dr Brennan. We'd watched you for a couple of days. Jake said we'd just grab you both, get Dr Brennan to help prove it was Becky we found, then find out who killed her. I went along because I couldn't let him know I knew. He'd hate me! I just wanted our Dad to pay for what he did. Jake promised no one would get hurt. He said we'd have to take you too cause if we didn't you'd find us really quickly."
"I understand why you went along with Jake." Booth said, his mind reflexively thinking of Jared and what he did for his younger brother.
"Jake's got a temper. He always had. I tried to make him keep a lid on it. But he hit you and almost killed you. He promised me the gun was just to scare you and stop you from trying to escape."
Booth didn't need Logan to remind him of how Jake had assaulted him. His ribs and wound on his forehead still reminded him of the fact. "I know you tried your best to make sure Jake didn't hurt us."
"Jake can't know that I'd lied to him all these years! You gotta promise me he can't know."
Aubrey quickly replied. "You didn't mean to lie to him. Like Agent Booth said, you were just a kid. It's not your fault. Jake won't hold it against you."
"I don't think anyone would doubt you loved your sister, especially Jake." Booth added. "And I know you love Jake too. He's your big brother right? Now do the right thing and tell us where to find him. It's better for him this way."
Logan hesitated, deep in thought. Then he spoke, "Jake has a girlfriend. He's probably hiding out at her place."
