I still don't own them, and I'm still not making any money out of this.
You might notice the chapters are getting slightly shorter as we need to change viewpoint more often, heading to the climax. To make up for this, I should be able to update more regularly.
I've created a new forum, called Bones Readers, because while readers can give comments to writers, there's no way for readers to contact other readers easily. I thought it might be useful to pose challenges, as well. Please feel free to make use of it!
"Well come on then, spill the beans," Booth said impatiently.
Brennan looked at him for a moment, confused, then nodded and reached for her case. She pulled her laptop out and set it up on the table in front of her. Booth moved round the other side of the table to sit next to her and look at the screen. He sat leaning forward, elbows resting on the table. She glanced round the room. By now, a couple of other diners were seated in the corners, and Sally was kept busy moving from one end to the other and back again, giving no more than a cursory glance to the two who had finished eating and were lingering over a cup of coffee and looking at a computer. Just in case, Brennan angled the screen so that no-one would be able to see it easily from a distance.
"The DNA on the third victim, the adult male, came up with a match on the NCIC database." Brennan logged on to her email and picked up a message with an attachment. She opened the attachment, to show the file on the third victim, with photo and Angela's sketch side by side.
Booth looked closely at the screen. "Angela did a good job, as usual," he commented.
Brennan nodded her agreement. "The third victim has a criminal record, with convictions for armed robbery. His name was Matt Garrison, aged 35. Murder weapon was a piece of pine with a square edge, similar to a table leg, or chair leg. He was hit from just behind him, so he probably didn't see the blow coming. His assailant was right-handed."
"Progress at last." Booth sat back in his chair and stretched. "Now all we have to do is figure out what he and the other two victims had in common. Otherwise he doesn't seem to fit. He's adult, they were kids. He was struck on the head, they were suffocated."
"The answer to that may be here." Brennan flicked through the file onscreen, skim-reading the reports sent to her from her team. Booth leaned against her slightly, looking forward at the screen. She glanced at him with amusement, realising he was trying to make sense of the report.
He gave up and sat back, resting his arm on the back of her seat. "Okay, I give up. Do tell."
"The DNA sample also matched that of the second victim."
"The unidentified boy?" Booth leaned forward again, suddenly alert, and now his arm was resting across her shoulders. Brennan jumped at the touch, then leaned in closer to him, so that their thighs were touching.
"That is correct." Brennan nodded with satisfaction. "It would appear that they are very closely related."
"I don't suppose there's a report of any close family in his file? Like, say, a son?" Booth sounded hopeful, and Brennan was glad to be able to confirm his guess.
"He had one son, Wayne. Aged eight. Wayne lived with his mother, Nancy Stewart. Garrison would look in on them when he wasn't inside. There were one or two reports that he was hurting the boy, but they moved around so much no one department could follow through properly."
"So where's Nancy Stewart now?" Booth wondered.
Brennan placed one hand on Booth's knee and caressed it absently, while scrolling the screen with the other and reading intently. "Garrison was in jail until a year ago. Just over six months ago his wife was found murdered and his son was missing, presumed murdered as well. Garrison disappeared, and the police have been looking for him ever since."
"So we need to figure out the connection, if there is one." Booth pondered the situation. "It's a pretty big coincidence if the three deaths are unconnected. We have two boys killed in the same way, which gives a connection between those deaths, and a father and son killed at around the same time, which connects those deaths. It looks pretty likely, then, that all three were killed for the same reason. But why? What's the connection between the three of them? We're missing something."
Brennan scowled and pushed her hair back behind her ears. Having Booth sitting so close made it harder to concentrate. On the other hand, knowing that she no longer had to agonise over whether they'd ever have more than a working relationship made things slightly easier. She leaned into his arm, and twisted her head to look at him. "What were they all doing around this area?" she asked.
"Good question." Booth thought for a moment. "Where was the wife killed?"
She sat back up and consulted the file again. "Cleveland. They thought Garrison was heading towards DC."
"And this place is on the way."
Brennan pictured a map in her head, and nodded. "And Jason and Ryan Swift were travelling through here on the way to DC when Jason got taken."
"And when he got taken, Ryan just gave up and left."
She could hear the bitterness in his voice, and she squeezed his leg affectionately. "But Matt Garrison isn't the kind of guy to turn tail and run if his son got taken, he'd go after him." Just like Booth would.
"And maybe get knocked on his head for his trouble."
They looked at each other triumphantly.
"The only question now," Booth said, bringing them both back down to earth, "is who killed them?"
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