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Brennan turned and watched Booth until he'd passed out of sight into the hall, before turning back to the computer where she knew Angela was waiting for her. This gave her time to compose herself and smooth the smile off her face. She knew Booth's hand on her shoulder had been completely casual. He'd often touched her on the shoulder in passing, or placed a hand on her arm while talking to her. She'd got into the habit of doing the same to him. But she was sure that Angela had not missed the way he had looked guilty when he'd realised he was being watched.
"So how is Booth?" Angela asked with a broad grin on her face.
Brennan decided to ignore her. Then as she was halfway through her next sentence she realised that her reaction, too, was a giveaway, and she stammered and blushed. Angela spotted that and hooted in delight. "That good, huh?" she asked.
Brennan welcomed Booth's return with the coffee. She murmured her thanks, breathing in the caffeine with gratitude and enjoying the momentary distraction. She looked up at him. "We haven't got an ID on the second boy yet," she explained. Booth leaned forward towards the screen to listen, placing his hand on the desk in front of her.
"He's about the same age as the first boy, but we haven't been able to match the facial reconstruction and description with any missing persons," Angela amplified. "LIBS indicates that he lived most of his life in the New York area. Carpet fibres were found on both bodies, a dark blue in colour, plus a few assorted fibres of other colours. Both show signs of suffocation, and bright red fibres were found around the mouth area, and in the case of the first child also in the lungs, indicating that material of some kind was held over their faces to smother them. There are injuries around the wrists and ankles, indicating the boys were bound before death, but no sign of other ill-treatment. Particles on the bodies show no indication either boy was killed far from where they were found."
Booth nodded. "Thanks, Angela. Let us know as soon as you come up with any definite ID for the boy."
He turned to Brennan. "We really need to get out and interview these people who knew the Swift family, just to rule the father out, but it looks like these deaths are both related. Unless there's a connection between the boys, it's unlikely to be the father of one of them."
She nodded, thankful for the opportunity of a break away from the computer. "Can I come?"
"Of course."
Thankfully she signed off the video conferencing session, shut the laptop and placed it back in her bag. Booth collected his jacket from the back of the chair he'd been using and fished his car keys out of his pocket. They walked out together, ignoring Harvey's glowering expression.
As they neared the car Booth slipped his arm around Brennan's shoulders and kissed her gently on the cheek. She smiled and turned to him, wrapping her arms around him. "Do you think Angela guessed anything?" she asked him with a mischievous smile.
"Well, knowing Angela, I'm not sure she would need to guess – I think she knows exactly how we feel about each other," he joked, holding the car door open for her.
She climbed inside and fastened her seatbelt, twisting round in her seat to watch as Booth took the driver's seat and inserted the ignition key. He glanced across at her. "What?" he asked, sounding self-conscious.
She just smiled. "I like watching you drive," she said.
He pulled a face at her and started the engine. "You're in charge of the satellite system then," he said, and she obediently reached forward to program the gadget.
The journey passed quickly – too quickly, in Brennan's opinion. She had learnt to enjoy her journeys with Booth. In the past they had debated anything and everything, with Brennan usually arguing science against Booth's more personal reactions. This time, the conversation took on a new dimension, as the memory of the change in their relationship overlaid all that they said.
They pulled up outside a small, unprepossessing house with garden toys strewn around the front yard. Two small children yelled at each other and fought over a bucket, while an older girl ignored them, sitting on a garden chair with her nose in a book.
Booth and Brennan exchanged glances as they got out of the car. Booth walked up the path to the door, with Brennan close behind. She looked at the children: they seemed well cared for, if somewhat loud.
Booth rang the doorbell, a few minutes later the door was opened from inside. All this time the children had totally ignored them. The older girl lifted her head from her book a couple of times to yell at the younger ones, but otherwise paid no attention to anything around her. Booth showed his badge to the woman who opened the door and introduced them both, and they were led through to the back room.
"I'm sorry," the woman apologised, moving stacks of books and toys off a couple of chairs. "The children never clean up – what can I do for you?"
Brennan looked at Booth, who seemed quite content to let her to take the lead. "Mrs Perry," she said. "We believe you know Rachel Swift?"
"Rachel?" She nodded. "Oh – she called. She's a good friend, you see. She said you'd found Jason's body. So terrible."
"Yes. Mrs Perry – we'd like to ask you a few questions. You knew Jason and his father as well, I understand?" Brennan glanced around the room, seeing photos of the children on the walls.
"That's right. We were good friends. Ryan and Paul – my ex-husband – were drinking buddies."
"Can you tell me what the relationship was like between Ryan and Jason?" Brennan watched Booth out of the corner of her eye. She knew his feelings on this case.
"Very intense. He worshiped the boy, felt he could do nothing wrong. I know Rachel and Ryan argued about him a lot. He felt Rachel was bringing him up wrong. He hated it when she told him off about anything. He spoilt the boy rotten."
"Do you think he would ever hurt the boy?" Brennan could feel Booth tense up as she asked the question.
"No. I know they argued a lot, I know that Rachel hated him having contact with the boy – but no, I couldn't imagine him ever hurting Jason."
Booth relaxed slightly. He nodded. "Thank you," he said to the woman. She looked puzzled.
"Mrs Perry," Brennan went on hurriedly. "Do you have any idea where Ryan Swift could be right now?"
She shook her head. "No. Sorry. But you could try asking Paul, if you could find him. I'm not sure where he's living now, but he did work at the local garage. I've hardly seen him since he moved out to be with his new girlfriend three years ago, when I was pregnant." She almost spat the last word out. "If you do go see him, remind him that he has kids himself, please."
Booth stood up. "Thank you for your time, Ma'am," he said, holding his hand out for Brennan. She stood up as well, and smiled at the woman as they left.
"Well?" she asked as they walked back to the car.
Booth turned to look at her. "I told you he wasn't involved," he said.
"So where is he?" Brennan could appreciate Booth's feelings; she could not bear the thought of a man hurting his own son either, but that still left them with two murdered boys and a missing father.
"Let's go and see his friend, shall we?"
After a pleasant lunch at a small restaurant in town they managed to track Paul Perry down in a small apartment building. As they stood knocking at the door Brennan considered the property. Smaller than his wife's house, it did not look the sort of apartment to house children for any length of time. "I wonder what sort of access he has to his kids?" she murmured softly. "It didn't sound as if he tried that hard."
Booth shook his head. "Some people don't care for their kids," he admitted.
The door opened, and a man they assumed was Paul Perry stood in front of them. Booth flashed his card. "We're looking for Ryan Swift," he said. "Do you know him?"
The man blinked sleepily, then nodded. "Yeah, I know Ryan," he said cautiously. "What's he done?"
"He kidnapped his kid."
"That was ages ago," the man blustered. "And what's it got to do with me?"
"We were hoping you had some idea where to find Ryan," explained Booth. "His son's body has been found."
"No kidding." Perry whistled between his teeth. "I haven't seen him. Not since he took the boy. Wasn't expecting to. His wife – sorry, ex-wife – she's a bitch, that one. If she ever caught him she'd bust his balls." He shook his head in pretend sympathy. "Tell you what; if I hear from him I'll let you know."
He tried to shut the door on them, but Booth put his arm out and prevented him. "We'd like to hear what kind of man Ryan Swift is," he said. "What the relationships were like in that family."
Perry leaned against the door frame, looking bored. "Rachel Swift is a bitch," he said after a few moments' thought. "Ryan adored his son, wanted to see him all the time. She wouldn't let him. Said it upset her routine. She was so hard on the poor kid, always yelling at him, putting him down. Ryan told her to stop, but she wasn't having it. Then she told him he wasn't to see the boy any more. Ryan just snapped. He said he would get the boy from her, whatever it took."
He had little more to add, and soon Booth and Brennan found themselves back at the car.
Brennan looked at Booth. "Well, it looks like your instinct was right," she said with a sigh. "It doesn't sound like the father hurt the boy. There's inconsistency though – Mrs Perry said that the father was too lenient, Mr Perry said the mother was too tough. I wonder what the truth was."
"The truth, Bones?" Booth kicked irritably at a stone lying on the pavement, sending it skittering into the bushes at the side of the road. "The truth is that bringing up a child is one of the hardest things in the world. If you've got two people who aren't working together as a team, it becomes almost impossible."
Brennan gave him a sympathetic hug, and he gave her a reluctant smile, before they both climbed silently into the car and drove back to the motel.
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