I'm glad you're still enjoying this one. A note on the geography - Booth drove for around 3 hours to meet Brennan. I hope Pittsburgh is the right sort of distance to do this on clearish roads! Unfortunately, I've found no-one who will fund a visit to the settings for research purposes. Talking of which:

I'm making no money from any of this, they belong to Kathy Reichs and Fox, and whoever else is lucky enough to own a piece of these guys.

Chapter 5 Interview

Brennan strode alongside Booth back to the car, looking sideways at him as they walked. It had been a pleasant surprise when he had turned up earlier, just as she had been missing him and wishing that he could be involved in the investigation. It was purely for the case, she told herself; she had genuine reservations about the way Harvey was handling things, and it just felt better working with someone she knew and trusted.Somehow, though, she wasn't entirely convinced by her own arguments.

Booth said very little as they headed for the police station, where they found Harvey sitting amongst a pile of paperwork. Booth showed him his badge. "We've had confirmation of identity," he informed the investigator. "It's a kidnap victim from out of state, and I'm taking over the investigation as of now."

Harvey looked past him at Brennan. "Your boyfriend is an FBI agent?" he said.

Brennan opened her mouth to correct him, but changed her mind and smiled sweetly. "Yes," she said. "My boyfriend is an FBI agent." Booth looked across at her, but made no comment. She had a feeling he was storing it up for later though.

They flicked through the files. "Jason Swift," said Booth, reading the name. "Mother is Rachel Swift." He looked up in surprise. "The kidnapper was the boy's father, Ryan."

"Divorce?" asked Brennan.

He nodded. "He had regular access, but apparently decided it wasn't enough. No indication that he was likely to hurt the boy though."

"I guess we talk to the mother." said Brennan. They headed back for the car.

The journey was spent mostly in small talk, and Brennan giving Booth the information on the site where the bodies were found. They pulled up outside a typical small family house. "No sign of any other kids," Brennan commented.

"The file says the victim was an only child," Booth agreed. "I wonder if she remarried, or is still divorced."

They walked together up to the front door, and Booth knocked. After a few minutes the door was opened by a well-dressed tall blonde woman who looked at them curiously.

Booth showed her his badge. "FBI. Are you Mrs Swift? May we come in?"

"What's this about?" A sudden thought struck her. "Jason? You've found Jason?" She looked eagerly at their faces, and must have read her answer there, because she dropped to her knees and began to weep. Brennan stepped forward and put her arms round the woman's shoulders. She and Booth helped her into the lounge, where she sank into a chair.

After a few minutes her sobs died away and she wiped her eyes and looked up at her visitors. "I'm sorry," she managed. "I've dreaded this news, but I always told myself that he would be looking after him okay, and one day he'd find his way back."

"Mrs Swift," said Booth. "Could you tell us more about the boy's father?"

She stood up and went over to one of the shelves that lined the wall. She pulled out a photo album and brought it back, then sat down flicking through the pages. She showed Booth and Brennan photo after photo of a dark-haired boy playing with a man. The family resemblance was unmistakeable.

"He worshiped him," she said sadly. "How did he die?"

"We found your son buried in a shallow grave in Pittsburgh," Booth explained gently. "We believe he'd been suffocated. We're sorry for your loss."

"How long ago?"

"We found him yesterday. He died around two years ago."

She looked up in surprise. "He disappeared two years ago," she said. "He's been dead all the time? I can't believe it!"

"Do you think it was Ryan?"

She frowned, and took her time before answering. "I didn't think he would ever hurt him. But maybe – he was so upset when I wouldn't let him see Jason anymore, he said he'd find a way to get him back, I thought he meant get custody, but maybe he meant to take him away from me a different way. He took him from school one afternoon, and I never saw either of them again."

"Why did you stop him seeing Jason?" Booth asked.

"He was always criticising the way I brought Jason up. He was always making snide remarks. The poor boy found it so hard. He got upset whenever Ryan came for him, then he'd get upset again when it was time to come back. I felt it was too much for him. I never imagined he was in physical danger though, or I'd have kept him away long before."

"We don't know it was his father," Booth pointed out.

"Well then where is he?" the mother demanded. "Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he report him missing himself?"

Booth just shook his head. "We'll let you know as soon as we find out more."

He stood to leave. Brennan looked up at him, surprised they were leaving so soon. He looked at her and shook his head, and she reluctantly followed him out of the house and back to the car.

He dug his keys out of his pocket, then threw them at her. "You can drive."

"Thanks." She waited for some explanation, but none came. Booth sat in the passenger seat, slumped down, and stared out of the window.

She allowed him his silence for a while, but began to feel it pressing down on her. "So when are you going to tell me why you really came?" she asked.

"I came to help you on the case."

"And because...?"

"Not now, Bones," he muttered.

"What did Rebecca want?"

She could tell that hit home by his reaction. He slumped down further in his seat. "Give me some time, Bones, please."

"All right then, what happens next? We look for the father, right?"

"It's not the father." Booth's voice was flat, without expression.

Brennan found herself feeling irritated. "You can't make that sort of assumption at this point. Anthropologically..."

"Oh forget your theory, just this once, Bones." Booth's anger came through clearly. "The father loved the boy. There's no reason to assume he would harm him in any way."

"You have no evidence for that. Then why would the mother...?"

"Because some women are like that. They make snap decisions, not considering the real needs of the child, and get surprised when the father gets upset and does something stupid."

Brennan considered that very carefully. Clearly there was something going on here that she was unaware of. Not wanting to annoy her partner to the stage where he felt unable to confide in her, she changed the subject and filled him in on the second body they'd found. Dead about six months, the boy was about the same age as Jason, and he, too, looked like he'd been suffocated.

"Do you think they're linked?" Bones suggested.

Booth shrugged. "That seems far more likely than the coincidence of two separate murders in the same area," he said. "Which backs up my theory that the boy's father was not involved." He sat staring out of the window, seeming reluctant to continue the conversation. Brennan decided to let him have the time he obviously needed to think through whatever was upsetting him.

By the time they reached Pittsburgh it was starting to get dark, and Brennan was hungry. "Did you bring an overnight bag?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded. "I always have one in the car."

"Do you want to check into the motel where I'm staying?"

"You're staying in a motel? Doesn't sound like you."

"Well, Harvey booked me into a hotel in town, but he was so strong on the alpha male domination attempt that I took exception to him organising me like that, and booked into the motel. It's not too bad a place really, and very close to the building site. The owner's nice."

Booth grunted. Brennan took that as a yes, and drove to the motel, parking Booth's car neatly on the forecourt. "If you go and book yourself in, I'll walk down the road and fetch my car," she told him.

When she got back a few minutes later Booth was just entering the room next to hers, carrying his black bag. "Give me five minutes, then we'll go get some food," she suggested.

He nodded and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, Bones, I know I'm not very good company at the moment."

"Well how about you talk to me over dinner?" she suggested, linking her arm through his. He seemed surprised at the contact, but squeezed her arm gently in his.

"That sounds a very good idea," he admitted with a sigh.

Thanks for all the reviews! More always welcome. Please let me know what you feel worked well, didn't work well, held your interest, made you want to read on... All will be inwardly digested and used to improve my writing for future parts and stories.