(The Past in the Present)
A/N: Remember, this story is AU.
I don't own Bones.
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Special Agent Hayes Flynn found Brennan's supposed bodyguard in the parking garage, his car in the visitor's section. Moving towards the car, Hayes witnessed the younger man he was looking for leave the car and stand facing Flynn.
"Can I help you?"
Holding up his credentials, Flynn studied the security guard or detective or whatever he was as he approached the man. "I've been told you're following Dr. Temperance Brennan around. Why? I need to know how long you've been doing that. Do you keep a log?"
Not sure what was going on, Bryan Tanner removed his phone from his jacket pocket, typed in a number and waited.
Impatient, Flynn placed his credentials in his jacket pocket. "You can answer my questions here or at the Hoover, your choice."
"Sir, FBI Agent Hayes Flynn is interrogating me outside the Jeffersonian . . . He wants to ask me questions about Dr. Brennan . . . got it." The call ended, the young man placed his phone in his jacket pocket. "I was assigned Dr. Brennan's security detail about three weeks ago. My client is worried about her safety. Yes, I keep a log of her movements as do the rest of my team. We also take pictures of her arrivals and departures . . . my supervisor insists." Moving over to the front door of his car, Bryan glanced at Flynn. "I'm going to retrieve my log book." Opening the door, he looked back. "Unless you want to get it. It's on the passenger seat."
Wary, Flynn kept his hands to his sides. "As long as that's all you're doing, go ahead."
After retrieving his log, Bryan turned to face Flynn. "What day are you interested in?"
"Three days ago." Flynn watched as Bryan turned some pages. "Where was she from 5:35 p.m. until she arrived home?"
His gaze upon his log, Bryan found his entries. "She left the Jeffersonian and drove to a flower shop, was inside for about 15 minutes then drove to a cemetery. She parked in the parking lot and visited a grave for about 45 minutes. She pulled some weeds from around a tombstone, placed the flowers she bought in an urn, sat on the ground and stayed for a while. She then drove to a Chinese takeout, Panda Express, was inside for 18 minutes and drove home. She got there about 8:12." Bryan closed his book and retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket. "I have pictures of her at the flower shop, the cemetery, at Panda Express and arriving home. I can share them, they're time stamped."
After he had the pictures copied to his phone, Flynn placed his phone back in his jacket pocket. "She didn't go anywhere else?"
"Not while I was watching her." Bryan was curious what the FBI Agent wanted, but didn't ask why. He knew he'd probably get a rude answer for any questions he asked. "You can check with Bill Martin, he watches her from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m."
"No, I'm only interested in the time period from 5:35 until she got home." Since he had several pictures showing timestamps of Brennan at several places during the time in question, he now knew she couldn't have killed Ethan Sawyer. It bugged him that the timestamp that had been provided from the loony farm had the wrong timestamp, but here was a man who was actually monitoring Brennan's movements. "When was the last time, she visited Holmes Institution?"
"Holmes Institution?" Bryan flipped through his log book. "Two weeks ago . . . I have pictures of her arrival and departure if you need them."
Since he knew he might need them down the road, Flynn copied the pictures to his phone. "Okay, thanks . . . Do you know why you're following Dr. Brennan around?"
"Sure, some nut job abducted one her coworkers and the Feds can't prove it because the kidnapper is some kind of weird computer genius and he knows how to get around an ankle monitor." Bryan checked his phone and showed Flynn a picture of Christopher Pelant. "We're supposed to be on the lookout for this guy. He's already slaughtered two people and has got away with it so far."
A deep frown on his face, Flynn shook his head. "Thanks." He was starting to realize that he might be wrong about Pelant and if he was then the FBI had a major problem. Pelant was making them look very foolish.
Once Flynn had entered his car and driven away, Bryan called his supervisor. "He asked a bunch of questions about Dr. Brennan's movements three days ago . . . Of course I was honest and I showed him the pictures I took of her arrivals and departures. You said cooperate and I cooperated . . . Got it . . . Agent Hayes Flynn . . . Got it." The call ended, Bryan entered his car and continued to watch Brennan's car. He knew if she left the building and didn't use her car, he'd be informed by a security guard he was paying to let him know about Brennan's movements inside the Lab. The guard was being paid to let him know if she walked down to the Diner or to a nearby coffee shop. It only took Bryan a few minutes to catch up with her when she did that. He took his job seriously especially after he had seen the pictures of Ezra Krane's body. The man's body had been flayed and Bryan didn't want Christopher Pelant anywhere near Dr. Brennan. He was the best in his business and no client of his was going to be murdered.
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The next morning, Booth was called into the office of Deputy Director Carl Fairburn. Not sure if he was being suspended from his job because Brennan was a suspect in a murder investigation, Booth decided to keep calm and not make waves. It was important for him to keep his job at the FBI so he could continue to investigate Ezra Krane's murder. He needed to prove that Christopher Pelant had murdered the reporter and he needed the resources at the Lab to do it. If they took his supervisory role from him, they still didn't have a reason to fire him. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong.
Nervously checking the knot of his tie, Booth stood in Fairburn's outer office and waited for Ms. Clark to let Fairburn know he was there. He kept silently repeating to himself that he had to remain calm and not lose his temper. Calling on his sniper training, Booth closed down his emotions and waited. He knew the next few minutes were important and he would handle it professionally.
"Agent Booth, you can go in now." Ms. Clark smiled at Booth, trying to encourage him. She knew what was going on in regards to Dr. Brennan's legal troubles and hoped everything worked out for Agent Booth's sake.
Once he was in the office, Booth closed the door behind him. He spotted Hayes Flynn standing next to Fairburn's desk and kept his face emotionless. "You asked to see me, Sir?"
Waving Booth over to his desk, Fairburn pointed at the chair on the left in front of his desk. "Please take a seat, Booth. We probably won't be too long."
After he was settled on his chair, Flynn sat down on the chair next to him. The room was so quiet all that could be heard was the air conditioning running. Fairburn studied Booth for a few seconds and admired how calm the man appeared. He wasn't sure he would be if someone accused his wife of murder. "Booth, Flynn has some news for you . . . Agent Flynn."
His face not betraying what he was thinking, Flynn turned to stare at Booth. "Dr. Brennan is no longer a suspect in the murder of Ethan Sawyer. Even though there is a video of her leaving Holmes Institution three days ago, we have now found video showing her buying flowers at "Flowers for all Occasions" a video of her visit at the cemetery where her mother was buried and a video of her buying food at Panda Express before she drove home that evening. It's not possible that three different businesses would have the wrong timestamps not to mention the detective that is following Dr. Brennan had pictures of her arriving and departing those places." He paused to see if Booth would react and when the agent didn't he continued. "The timestamps on his pictures line up with the businesses in question . . . Dr. Brennan didn't have time to kill Dr. Sawyer three days ago."
Relieved, Booth nodded his head, careful not to show any emotion. "I told you she didn't kill anyone."
A slight smile on Fairburn's face, Carl knew that Booth was relieved even if he wasn't showing it. "Booth, I hope you understand that we had no choice but to check into Dr. Brennan's alibis. The video from Holmes Institution was pretty damning."
"Pelant found a way to manipulate that video and he killed Ethan Sawyer. He needs to remain under close supervision, not that that has stopped him from killing three people so far."
Before Flynn could respond, Fairburn raised his hand and responded instead. "You have to prove it, Booth. So far, you haven't been able to prove anything. The monitoring company says he's never left his house since his house arrest began except to go to a dentist appointment three months ago. I've already been notified that Pelant is going to be released from home confinement and he's to report to a probation officer once a week. It's out of my hands until you prove the man has broken the law."
Booth was angry, but he controlled his temper. "I'll prove it. It may take time, but he's going to screw up sooner or later and when he does, I'm going to get him. That's a promise."
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Once Booth and Flynn were out of the office, Fairburn took his personal phone out of his desk drawer and made a phone call. "Max . . . Tempe is in the clear. Apparently Dr. Hodgins hired a detective agency to keep track of her around the clock along with him, his wife and Dr. Saroyan. Flynn says that Hodgins is the head of the Cantilever Group and if that's true then he's as rich as Croesus. Anyway, those detectives can prove she wasn't at the Holmes Institute the evening that Ethan Sawyer was killed."
It's that Pelant fella. You guys are letting him get away with murder.
"We're not letting him get away with anything. We have to prove he's killed those people and so far we can't prove it. It's that simple . . . Listen Max, stay out of this. Don't go after Pelant. I have people working on his case including your daughter and her partner. I mean it, if you kill Pelant, I'll go after you. This is a high profile case, not some gang leader. Too many people know about Pelant, so let us do our job."
As long as Tempe is okay, then I'll stay out of it . . . You'd better do something about that nut job before he kills someone else.
"Just behave Max."
Once the call was ended, Carl leaned back against his chair and rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming. It was difficult being related to Max even if it was just by marriage. The man believed in 'an eye for an eye' and he'd helped his wife's cousin in the past get rough justice, but he was the Deputy Director of the FBI now and that meant he had to stop doing that. Max had to play by the rules whether he liked it or not.
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Let me know what you think of my story. Thanks
