(The Fact in the Fiction)
Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.
I don't own Bones.
Oooooooooooooooo
Though he had other cases he was working on, Booth was still looking into the death of Christopher Pelant. Just because the man had been a serial killer didn't mean that his killer should go free. Especially a killer that could do what he had done to Pelant.
Sitting in the office of the CEO of Serberus, Booth studied the man sitting in the chair across the desk from him. Tom Molner was calm and appeared to be calculating how he should respond to Booth's question. Apparently, the question had surprised the man.
"You want to know where Jason Lau is?" Tom stared at Booth for a few seconds and decided to be blunt. "Where Jason is is a not for public consumption. He's on a mission right now, a dangerous mission and I will not jeopardize his life by betraying where he is to you or anyone else."
A slight smile on his face, Booth knew when he was being snowed. "Jason Lau is suspected of committing a heinous murder in this country. He was seen in the District the day Pelant went missing, but he lives in Baltimore. He was the best friend of Xavier Freeman, they went to school together, they served together and they worked for Serberus on a few missions. He's my prime suspect and I want to know where Jason Lau is. If he can't return to this country at this time then I can have someone interview him where he is . . . If you don't want to cooperate then it's possible you'll be tried for obstruction of justice and possibly as an accessory after the fact, if he ever goes to trial." Booth also had the van that Pelant's body had been transported in, but he wasn't going to tell Molner that. Booth had discovered that Lau had rented a van the day before Pelant was killed and reported it stolen to the rental company. Booth had put an alert out for the van and it had been found in Hagerstown in an impound lot. The van was cleaned and had obviously been detailed, but his people had gone over it anyway and found some hair caught in a rust patch in the back of the van. That hair belonged to Pelant.
Chuckling, Tom shook his head. "You'll have a hard time making that stick, Agent Booth. As far as I can see, what you have is circumstantial evidence." He knew the agent was testing him and he found it interesting. "Even if I told you where he is, it wouldn't do you a bit of good. He's working in a volatile country and he's being paid to protect someone high up in that country's government. I don't think his employer is going to allow him to cooperate. They're rather touchy right now. There have been some political assassinations in that country and they suspect outside interference. The FBI showing up at their doorstep right now might make them angry and we don't want to make them angry, believe me." He shrugged his shoulders. "You may have to wait until Jason comes back to this country to talk to him."
"And when will that be?" Annoyed, Booth kept his face emotionless. He didn't want Molner to know how he felt about the situation. Poker was his game and he had the best poker face at the table.
"He's signed a five year contract." Molner knew he was winning for now, but that didn't mean he couldn't lose in the end. "I can send him a message saying that you want to talk to him. If he doesn't contact you then it's out of my hands. I can let you know when he's back in the country. That's my best offer."
Standing, Booth leaned on the desk. "I've already contacted Interpol. If Jason Lau leaves where ever he is and enters another country, they're going to arrest him. Just so you know, I have a warrant for his arrest and Interpol is cooperating with the United States on this one. The pictures of Christopher Pelant's body was all it took to get that cooperation." Straightening, Booth stared down at Molner. "Jason Lau killed Christopher Pelant. You know it and I know it. He won't be able to stay where he is forever. When he's back in this country, he will answer for what he did."
Since he didn't want Booth looming over him, Molner stood up. "If Jason killed anyone. Right now, you haven't given me any proof he did anything wrong let along murdered someone. He has to fulfill his contract. When that contract is up, then he'll be returned home and he can be questioned then."
"Just remember, he's now a wanted man world wide, Mr. Molner." Booth turned and walked over to the door, paused and looked back. "If you're hiding him because he killed Pelant on your orders . . . we'll prove that too."
"I don't order people to kill other people, Agent Booth. I resent your implications." Molner smiled even though he found nothing funny about the situation. "You'd better not impugn my company's reputation or my personal reputation in public, Sir. You will regret it." Once Booth was gone, Molner sat down and leaned back against his chair. He had a decision to make and he needed to weigh all of his options first. This problem with Jason wasn't going to go away, but he had time to deal with it. No need to hurry. That was how fatal mistakes happened.
Oooooooooooooooooo
Sally Fairburn had met Brennan at a few social gatherings at the Jeffersonian, but she doubted that the scientist remembered her since they had barely talked at any of the functions. She had kept her distance from Max's child because she hadn't known how to handle the situation. She had recognized Temperance Brennan the first time she had seen her. Temperance looked like her mother and that surprised Sally. Now the little girl she had known was grown, an experienced forensic anthropologist and she was rather standoffish.
She remembered what a shock it had been when Max's family had disappeared from her life. Max and his family had vanished after a bank robbery that had gone horribly wrong. It has been several years before Carl had found out what had happened to the family and by that time, Temperance was a young lady, living in Washington D.C. and working at the Jeffersonian as a forensic anthropologist.
The FBI had been looking for Max Keenan for a long time for his involvement in the fatal bank robbery in Ohio and here was his daughter, living in the shadows of the Hoover Building working once in a while for the FBI.
When she started working at the Jeffersonian, Temperance Brennan had been contracted with the CIA and the FBI to do autopsies when needed. A background check had been done on her and much to Carl's surprise, her records didn't link her to Max Keenan. She was the daughter of a science teacher and a bookkeeper who had disappeared when she was 15 years old. No one had questioned her family history and that made Carl and Sally rest easy.
Carl had found out that Temperance had been abandoned by her brother and given to the State of Illinois to raise just a few months after their parents had disappeared and that made him angry. Carl had also discovered that Temperance had been placed in Foster Care and she had been treated badly by two of her foster families. Carl had wanted to track down Russ Brennan and beat the shit out of him for abandoning his sister, but Sally had talked him out of that. After all, Russ had been nineteen at the time he'd abandoned his sister and Sally felt that Russ had been given responsibilities he couldn't handle.
To Carl and Sally's horror, Carl had learned that Temperance had almost been killed by one of her Foster families and she been placed in a group home after that. John Tanner, Temperance's foster father had been convicted of child endangerment along with his wife and they had been given four years in prison. Furious at the light sentence, Carl had tracked down John Tanner to his new home in Galena, Illinois. Determined to give Temperance the justice the courts refused her, Carl kidnapped the man, took him out to Lusk Creek Wilderness, a national forest in Illinois, killed the man and buried his body in the woods. John Tanner would never hurt another child again. Carl was an FBI Agent and he had a duty to go after bad guys. Sometimes he did that outside the law, but he did it to protect his family and his family always came first to him. He also felt he had rid the world of a menace and it would be a better place to live because John Tanner was gone.
Not sure where Russ was, he assumed the boy was alive and decided to search for him. He did it quietly so Sally wouldn't know what he was up to and he soon found out where Russ was. Checking on Russ' background, he decided to let the boy sink or swim on his own. He reminded Carl too much of Max's father and Carl had despised that man until the day that old man died. Russ had already been in trouble with the law and he didn't have a lot of hope the boy would make anything of his life. He was a car thief and he didn't seem to be trying for anything better.
Sally had found herself in a difficult situation when she'd found out that Temperance was working at the Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian. She knew the situation was complicated and if Max was still alive then he was still wanted by not only the FBI, but the remaining gang members involved in the shooting of the two State Troopers during the botched bank robbery. Carl suspected that there were some corrupt FBI agents involved with that robbery. There were several clues pointing to the fact that the bank robbers had been protected by someone in law enforcement until the State policemen had been killed and he'd narrowed that list down to Robert Kirby and Agent Garret Delaney. Max Keenan aka Matt Brennan was still wanted by the FBI and that made Carl believe that Sally's cousin was still alive.
Out of the blue, Max had called him to let him know he was alive and Ruthie aka Christine Brennan was dead. Max had found out his daughter was in Washington D.C. and he wanted Carl to watch over her. Since Temperance was family, it didn't seem to be much of a burden. Carl had been transferred to the Hoover the year before his cousin Dr. Brennan had started working at the Jeffersonian so he was positioned to watch not only Temperance, but Kirby and Delaney.
Max hadn't been happy that his daughter was working with the FBI, but he had accepted the situation. Carl had assured him that the agent she was working with was a veteran and an honorable man with a good reputation. Max had been mollified, but he had no say in the matter no matter what his daughter did. He was living under an alias across the country and he couldn't have an active part in her life.
Now, years later, Sally wanted to have a relationship with Temperance even if it was a minor one. Sally longed to have contact with her family, but she knew she would have to be cautious. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin her husband's career. He was a good Deputy Director and he might even make it to Director of the FBI someday. She just had to keep her contact with Temperance Brennan low key if the woman was willing.
Standing in Brennan's office, Sally smiled at the younger woman sitting behind her desk. "Dr. Brennan, I don't know if you know who I am, I'm Sally Fairburn. My husband is Deputy Director Carl Fairburn."
After she had recovered from being shot, Booth had told her about Carl Fairburn's visit to her hospital room and what he had said. She had been surprised to find out she had more relatives, but she was hesitant to become involved with them. She had talked to Max about Sally and Carl and he had encouraged her to at least try to have a relationship with them even if it was just a friendly one and nothing more. "Yes, we've met a few times at functions at the Jeffersonian . . . I talked to Max about you and he verified who you are."
Not sure if she was welcome or not, Sally moved across the room and sat down on the couch, placing her purse on the coffee table. "I've wanted to introduce myself for a long time, but Max's difficulties with the law made that a dangerous proposition. After his trial, I was going to introduce myself then, but Max didn't want to jeopardize Carl's position at the FBI, so he asked me to keep away from you. I've done so, but . . . I think this had gone on long enough. I would like to be closer to you Temperance. If you'll allow it. Max refuses to see me because he is a convicted criminal and he's connected to the deaths of two State Policeman and to Robert Kirby. Your father meets with my husband in another state once in a while, just to touch bases, but that is the only contact we have with him. I don't have any contact with your brother."
Brennan heard her out and thought about what she had said. "Yes, Max told me that when he ran with my mother and Russ and me, he also severed his relationship with you and your husband. He didn't want to risk your lives since he was wanted by dangerous men . . . I have thought about your story, who you are, the fact that you are Max's cousin and the fact that he, Russ and I are the only living family you have left and I have decided that we might be able to have a relationship . . . as friends?"
"Yes, as friends, that would be wonderful Temperance." Sally was relieved. She had feared that the young scientist would reject her. "I won't be a pest or try to intrude in your life. Perhaps we can meet for lunch sometimes. I have some stories to tell you about your mother when she was young that you might want to hear. We can talk about those times, when your parents were young and full of life and had a bright future ahead. I knew your grandparents, all four of them. We can talk about them too if you wish."
Curious, Brennan nodded her head. "That would be acceptable, Mrs. Fairburn."
"No . . . please, no, call me Sally." Not willing to be so formal, Sally smiled encouragement. "I am Max's cousin and therefore your cousin. We're family so there is no need to call me anything but Sally."
"Alright, Sally." It felt odd knowing that Sally was a relative and the woman knew more about her past than she did. "We can arrange to have lunch in the future."
"Thank you, Temperance. I promise not to take advantage of your generosity."
Oooooooooooooooo
Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.
