Apologies for the delay. This part is unbeta'ed, so any mistakes are all mine.


After breakfast at the diner Booth headed over to the office. They had agreed that he would hand in Brennan's key and check her out; her start had been too early for the office to be open. Now the door was unlocked, but the room was empty, and Booth stood leaning on the counter looking round idly. A photo of a young boy behind the counter brought back memories of his last conversation with Rebecca, that he'd managed to avoid thinking about in the events of the last day with Bones, and he starting wondering how he was going to solve that problem.

Charlie appeared from a door behind the counter, and greeted him cautiously. He noticed where Booth had been looking, and beamed proudly. "That's my son. Handsome lad, isn't he?"

"He certainly is," Booth agreed.

"We spend a whole week together every summer, just the pair of us." Charlie smiled at the memory. "What can I do for you, Agent Booth? Checking out?"

"I'm checking Dr. Brennan out," Booth answered, dropping the key on the counter. "She had to leave really early, so I said I'd drop the key in."

Charlie picked it up and put it on the hook behind him. "Sorry to see her go," he remarked. "Will you be leaving anytime soon?" He seemed eager for the answer to be a yes.

"I'll be leaving when I've finished with this case," Booth answered shortly. He signed Brennan out, agreed that Charlie should charge her credit card, then walked over to the building site to check the status of the investigation. What he saw there made him less than happy. Workmen were gathered round their machines, while one man wearing a hard hat and looking like he was in charge was talking animatedly to Ted Harvey. When the investigator saw Booth he touched the foreman on the arm, then walked towards the FBI agent.

Booth met him halfway. "What the hell's going on?" he demanded, gesturing at the heavy machinery around them.

"I'm about to authorize them to start work," Harvey answered. "It's a big development. We can't hold it up for no reason."

"What - you're kidding me!" Booth shook his head. "No way does any work start here until I say so. We're dealing with a serial murder case. This is a murder scene. And no-one does anything here other than search for further evidence."

Harvey looked seriously annoyed, and turned back to the foreman. The foreman looked furious, and Harvey took hold of his arm and walked him away so he could talk to him privately. The two seemed to be having a big row, Booth noticed. He turned to all the men who had gathered round to hear what he had to say.

"No work will be done here today," Booth assured them. "Go home. This is a crime scene, and it can't be disturbed."

Reluctantly, muttering and cursing among themselves, the men eased back and some started to leave, but the foreman angrily brushed Harvey off and headed straight for Booth.

"You can't hold up work here," he fumed. "This is a million dollar development, and we can't afford any delay."

"I appreciate your concern," Booth told him firmly. "But this is also a crime scene."

The man swore loudly at him. Harvey said something to him under his breath, and the man shook his head and stormed off. A few minutes later they heard a car engine revved violently and tires squeal on the road.

Booth glared at Harvey. "I told you, I've taken charge of this investigation," he said. "No-one gives any orders around here that I haven't approved."

Harvey shrugged. "It seems pointless to me," he said. "We searched all day yesterday without finding anything. There's nothing left to find."

Booth shook his head, wondering if Harvey was deliberately trying to cause trouble or was just useless at his job. He had words personally with every officer on the site, making sure they knew exactly what they were looking for and what area they were searching, and then headed back to his car to check in at the station. There he spoke with another officer who was coordinating the enquiries. They had been showing photos of Jason and Ryan Swift around the area, seeing if anyone recognized them.

Of course, after two years it was a long shot, but Booth had hopes that someone at least would be able to place them in the area. But so far they'd come up with nothing.

Booth found himself thinking of Bones, and wondering what she was doing. He had achieved absolutely nothing at his end; he hoped she had managed to get somewhere with the bodies. Perhaps she, in the lab, could achieve what he couldn't out in the field. When he had first worked with her, he had seriously doubted the usefulness of her methods, but they had been proved time after time, and now he wondered if he was starting to place too high a value on her work. Then he thought again of some of the cases she had helped him solve, and knew that he literally couldn't do it without her.

But could he work with her, and have a relationship with her at the same time? Not if all she wanted was a physical relationship. He realized that now. Surely she wanted more, though. Didn't she? Was she willing to let down her guard and let someone in for a real relationship? Was she ready?

He shook the thoughts impatiently out of his head, and headed back to his car. There were a couple more of Ryan Swift's friends he needed to talk to. He was still trying to build a picture of the boy's father in his mind. Was he a man who loved his son so much he couldn't bear to be parted from him? Was he a man who had unrealistic expectations of his son, then murdered him when he found the boy couldn't live up to those expectations? Or was he a victim too, his body still to be recovered? Those were the questions he should be focusing on.

On the drive out of town Booth forced his thoughts to stay on the case. Thinking about Bones was pointless; he could achieve nothing, and what he wanted to do was to solve this case as soon as he could. Only then could he go back to DC, see Bones, and find out exactly where they stood.

He was unable to locate the first person he tried, a friend of Ryan's, but managed to find Leila Jones, whose son Chris was one of Jason's friends. She seemed shocked at the news of Jason's death, and called Chris in to speak to Booth.

"Did you ever meet Jason's parents?" Booth asked him.

"Yeah." The boy perched on the edge of his seat, staring down at his feet.

"What did you think of them?"

Chris looked up at his mother as if asking her how to answer. She nodded for him to continue.

"His mom – she was really strict," he said reluctantly. "His dad was cool. He'd let him do anything he wanted. Jason always wanted to be with his dad."

Booth looked up at the mother, and she shook her head. "Rachel Swift was a good mother," she said firmly. "Ryan Swift let that kid get away with anything. It's no wonder he would prefer to be with his dad. Ryan just didn't know how to say no. No backbone, that one."

"He had enough backbone to kidnap his son," Booth pointed out.

"Yes, but he'd have soon had enough. When he learnt what it's really like to care for a child, instead of just giving them a good time. He'd have brought him back."

But would he have killed him? The thought rose again in Booth's mind as he got back into his car. He was just debating with himself whether to grab some lunch at a diner or eat in the car, when his phone rang. He listened to what the caller had to say, hung up, sat thinking for a few minutes, then flipped his phone open, hit the button his finger automatically went to without looking, and waited for an answer.

"Brennan."

He smiled. "Where will you be in a few hours, Bones? I'm coming back to DC. We've had a breakthrough."

As ever, your reviews are welcomed - especially since the next two parts are proving hard to write. The story is mapped out until the end, but the middle is a little more elusive!