A/N: we're getting closer to the end of our little story. The words I used in this chapter are normal, nosy, notebook, neck, and nervous.
Grumbling to himself, Booth reached over to slap at the noisy alarm clock as it sounded from the nightstand. "Six AM already? Jesus…I feel like I just fell asleep and now I have to get up..."
As he scratched his belly, he rolled over to embrace his wife. "Mornin', Bones…"
"Good morning." She snuggled against his broad chest. "Did you sleep well?"
"Oh, yeah." He chuckled softly as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I was beat, you know? You kinda wore me out."
"Which you seemed to enjoy immensely." She giggled as he gently caressed her. "Of course, I enjoyed it as well."
"I'm glad." He grunted as the snooze alarm went off. "I hate that damn thing…" He swatted at it, knocking it off the stand. "Hopefully, that shut it off for good…'
"Well, as we've discussed many times, we could both retire and live quite well on the income from my books. That way you would be able to sleep as late as you wanted."
Shrugging, he lay back on the bed. "Yeah, maybe, but I don't think I'd like it, you know? It wouldn't seem normal...not going to work everyday. I think I'd always feel like I was being a lazy bum or something…"
"Well, someday you'll be required to retire…" Smiling, she sat up in bed. "...but it doesn't have to be today." She glanced at the clock. "If you are going to work today, you should probably get out of bed…"
"I will in a minute. C'mere…" He pulled on his laughing wife's arm gently until she lay down next to him. "So...do you know what today is?"
Rolling her eyes, she pretended to glare at him. "Friday…"
"That's not what I meant. It's the thirteenth...the day before Valentine's Day. Guess who got his wife a little something special?"
Brennan's brow furrowed for a few seconds before she answered. "Hodgins?"
"No! Well, maybe...but I was talking about someone you know very well...someone you've been naked with…"
She smirked as she ran her fingers down his chest. "Oh...you mean Sully. But I don't think he ever married his girlfriend…"
"Sully? What the hell?" Booth narrowed his eyes at his wife. "No, not Sully, either…"
"Oh. Well, who was it then?" She giggled as she feigned innocence. "You know I don't like guessing games. You'd better just tell me…"
"It's me, silly." He laughed as she arched an eyebrow at him. "I bought you a little something...just because, you know...because I love you…"
"I see." She tapped her fingers against his muscular arm. "When do I get to see it?"
"On Valentine's Day." Booth chuckled softly as she pouted a bit. Knowing how nosy his wife could be, he was glad his little surprise was safely hidden in his desk drawer at work. "Not today, sorry. You'll just have to wait. However…" He took her into his arms. "I know how we can pass the time until then…"
Just then his phone rang loudly. "Shit! What is it with things making loud noises to interrupt me today? Booth…really? Yeah, that is interesting...okay, yeah. See you then." Ending the call, he looked surprised as he tossed his phone aside. "That was Volker…"
"This early in the morning?" Brennan glanced at the clock on her side of the bed. "It's only 6:15…"
"Well, yesterday he said he was going to Walkersville early this morning, so I guess he made good on his promise. Anyway, he's already looked through some of the video and he's pretty sure it wasn't Coakley that the cameras caught, but he doesn't know who it is. He says it's hard to see the guy. Maybe Angela's got some sort of computer body identification thingy that can help…"
"Perhaps she does. I'll talk to her when I get to work. However, since we're already awake…" Brennan grinned slyly at Booth. "I think we can take a few minutes for ourselves before the children wake up, don't you? Unless you're too tired, that is…"
"Oh no." Kissing her tenderly, he caressed her cheek. "I'll never be too tired for you…"
Ooooooooo
A few hours later, Brennan was in Angela's office, waiting for Booth and Volker to arrive. She watched as Angela cued up the newly acquired surveillance video on the large viewing screen. "Booth has informed me that he's purchased a small gift for me to mark Valentine's Day."
"Ooh...that sounds like fun. Any ideas what it could be?" Angela glanced at her friend. "Maybe it's jewelry…"
"I don't need any jewelry.," Brennan stated succinctly. "I have more now than I can wear…"
"Listen, Brennan...if your husband wants you to have a nice piece of jewelry, don't turn it down, okay? That would hurt his feelings…"
"I know…" Shaking her head, the anthropologist grimaced slightly. "I'm not sure why he felt the need to buy me a gift, though. Our trip last weekend was supposed to be a gift for both of us to enjoy together, and it was most pleasant. We have great memories to share. I don't need anything more…"
"Sweetie, Booth is a romantic, okay? He probably saw something in a store window somewhere and it reminded him of you...you know, something he knew you'd enjoy. It may not be anything expensive...maybe it's just a trinket of some sort, like your little toy pig or the Smurf figurine you keep on your desk. The point is that he's just showing how much he loves you, okay?"
"I suppose you're correct." Considering Angela's explanation, Brennan bit her lip. "I wonder if I should get him something as well, although it may be difficult to make an appropriate choice. Since I'm not sure what he has for me, it's impossible to know what to purchase as a comparable gift."
"You're making this way too complicated, Sweetie. I'm sure Booth wouldn't want you to fret over this gift thing, okay? That's not why he told you he has a gift for you. He just wanted you to know that he was thinking of you."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Booth and Volker. "Hey, Bones...hey, Angela. Have you had time to go over the security footage?"
"I was just getting ready to do that." Angela gave her newest visitor an appraising glance. "I'm Angela Montenegro. Nice to meet you, Agent Volker. I've heard lots of good things about you."
"Um...thanks," he said, laughing nervously as he took a small notebook and pen from his pocket. Seeing Booth's look of surprise at the old fashioned tools, the young man smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to charge my tablet last night. Anyway, Ms. Montenegro, I'm just trying to do my job, you know? Special Agent Booth has been a great help while he's been mentoring me, and I've learned a lot already."
"Yeah, okay...whatever. Save the BS for later." Waving off Volker's compliment, Booth watched the video closely. "Where's the section with our guy?"
Angela nodded. "It's the next section. Here...let me fast forward this…"
The blurry images scrolled by until she got to the correct time on the video. "Okay, this is from the convenience store." She paused the video so they could see the person in question. "It appears to be a middle aged man, but his face is partially hidden by that hood…"
"Freeze it!" Brennan studied the video for a minute. "Angela, would you please bring up a picture of Arthur Coakley?"
"Sure." She input some information into her computer, and Coakley's image popped up on the screen next to the video.
"Look, Booth...right here...at the zygomatic arch." Brennan walked up to the screen and pointed at the image. "This person is not Mr. Coakley. Overall, Mr. Coakley seems to be more muscular, with a robust skeletal mass, and I believe this person tried to simulate that by wearing bulky clothes. However, the angle of this person's zygomatic is completely different than Mr. Coakley's is. I was right...someone was impersonating Mr. Coakley in order to call attention to his being in the area. That's why the credit card was used...it was an obvious attempt to point a finger in his direction."
"And I guess the clerk wasn't paying much attention, since the guy was there at a busy time of day." Scratching the back of his neck, Booth was grim as he considered the situation. "So yeah, that's what he did, but why? I mean, why go to all that trouble? You'd think whoever this guy is would already know Arthur was a suspect…"
Volker spoke quietly. "Maybe he couldn't wait too long for Coakley to be arrested. Remember your theory, Booth? That Dr. Gladpoole was behind the whole thing for the insurance money? Well, maybe the insurer balked at paying out the settlement until the case was adjudicated, since it was ruled a homicide."
"Maybe." He ran his hand over his chin before pointing at the screen. "Angela, do you have a picture of Dr. Gladpoole? If so, put it up there on the screen." As she complied, Booth turned back to Volker. "Have you found out whether or not the original owner of the bow has gotten it back?"
"He's expecting it soon. He lives in Austria, so arrangements were made for it to be shipped to him. He's expecting it next week. Funny thing, though...he said Dr. Gladpoole pushed hard to have the deposit returned immediately, before he received it in the mail. Of course, he said no…"
"Very smart move...otherwise that fancy bow would've been 'lost' in the mail permanently, and then maybe show up on Ebay in a few years."
"Here we are." Angela pointed at the screen. "Here's a photo of Dr. Gladpoole."
After comparing the pictures, Booth shrugged. "What do you think, Bones?"
Her brow furrowed as she focused on the screen. "I'm almost positive this is Dr. Gladpoole. However, the fact that the face of the man in the video is somewhat obscured by the hood suggests that I should reserve judgment."
Seeing Volker's confusion, Booth translated. "She's pretty sure it's him, but not a hundred percent. What matters is that her tentative ID of the guy is enough for us to bring him in for questioning."
"Okay." Pulling out his phone, Volker nodded. "I'll have him picked up. Meet you by the car, okay?"
As they stepped out into the hall, Booth agreed with a smirk. "That's a good idea...and while you're at it, you might want to call Gina, too, and see if she can plug in your tablet, okay? I'm assuming you were in a hurry this morning and you left it at her place?"
"Geez…" Volker looked like he might get sick. "Really? How did you…"
Pointing at the young man's shirt, Booth laughed. "I recognized that little coffee stain from yesterday." As Volker blushed, Booth shook his head. "No big deal, kid...I'm just giving you a hard time, okay? Listen, one thing you need to learn as an FBI agent is to always keep a go bag in your SUV. You know, a clean FBI tee shirt, some jeans, and maybe a clean dress shirt. After all, you never know when an 'emergency' will arise…"
"Yeah...thanks." Wearing a embarrassed grin, Volker puffed out a sigh. "Okay...I'm gonna go make some phone calls. See you in a few minutes."
"Great. I'm gonna go say goodbye to Bones."
He strolled down the hall to his wife's office. When he arrived, he found her hard at work, concentrating so intently on her monitor that she hadn't noticed him.
He couldn't help but smile as he watched her from the doorway. She was so beautiful...and she was his. Of course, he'd never describe their relationship in those terms where she could hear him, but that was exactly what he felt...he was an alpha male, and she was part of his territory.
As he studied her, it occurred to him that she was searching the internet for something. Not only that, she was muttering to herself, apparently frustrated. "Bones? What are you doing?"
Startled, she jumped, knocking over her coffee cup. "Nothing...nothing...well, not exactly nothing. I was doing some research."
"I see. What were you researching?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "It looked interesting."
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know that you weren't finding what you were looking for…"
She'd been caught, but she wasn't about to give up her secret...not just yet. Rising from her desk, she walked over to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. "Are you sure you have to go back to work right now?"
"Yeah, I do...but only because I've got Volker with me. Maybe we can play some more tonight, okay? Maybe by then you'll have found a gift for me…"
"Booth! That's not fair." She pretended to slap at his arm. "You crept up on me while I was shopping!" She batted her eyelashes at him as she smoothed his tie. "I don't suppose you'd give me a hint about my gift, would you? Pretty please?"
Laughing out loud, he shook his head. "Nope...gotta run. Talk to you tonight." He gave her a quick kiss and quickly walked away, chuckling to himself as he headed for the elevator.
Frustrated and annoyed, Brennan sat back down at her computer, hoping for inspiration when she saw an ad pop up. "That's perfect…"
She smiled happily as she clicked on the website. "Exactly what I had in mind.'
Now that she knew what she was going to get her husband, it was time to focus on work, but she found her thoughts drifting to the next day.
It was definitely going to be an eventful holiday.
Thanks for reading. If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it.
