MURDER ON TOUR
CHAPTER ONE
Moonlight floods through the window as Brennan enters yet another hotel room. She drops her bag on the floor as soon as she closes the door behind her. Sighing she looks around and realises this room looks just like every other hotel room she's been in over the last few weeks while on her book tour. With flowery wallpaper on every wall, matching bedspread, curtains and an uncomfortable armchair in the corner she is desperate for the familiar, comforting surroundings of her apartment.
In three steps the exhausted author reaches the queen bed and falls down on her stomach, her eyes closing instantly. But a loud rapping at the door interrupts her moment of peace. Brennan groans and pushes herself up into a sitting position, roughly pulling a stray lock of hair from her face.
"Dr Brennan." Brennan cannot fail to recognise the whining voice of Arthur, the assistant assigned to her on this book tour. Brennan drags herself up and yanks open the door, a glare in her eyes Arthur is getting used to.
"Here's the schedule for tomorrow." He hands her a piece of paper with a grin on his face. "I'll wake you at six."
"Arthur, it's already two." Brennan sighs. After travelling all day she was hoping for a long rest.
"Don't complain Dr Brennan. You've been on this tour for three weeks now. You should be used to the late nights and early mornings." Arthur smiles.
"Goodnight Arthur." Brennan rudely closes the door on the young man and staggers back to the bed. Four hours of sleep is better than none. As Brennan drifts off she smiles thinking how weird it is that she's actually craving sleep. Her, the same woman who'll work three days straight on a case and complain when Angela tells her to go home and rest. If Booth could see me now he'd be laughing she thinks.
A phone ringing near her head wakes Brennan a mere two hours later. As she rolls across the bed to pick up the receiver she winces as the button of her jeans digs into her skin. I am never sleeping in clothes again.
"Brennan." She answers groggily.
"Dr Brennan, this is Sheriff Anderson." A strong male voice answers. "I realise it's early." Brennan glances at the clock and realises it is barely 4am.
"You can say that again." She mutters as she sits up. How did he get my number? She also wonders.
"I was hoping you might be able to help us." Sheriff Anderson says. "One of my deputies was called out to a warehouse a few hours ago and he discovered some remains there. I understand you are an expert in identifying victims who are…well unidentifiable."
"I'm a forensic anthropologist Sheriff." Brennan sighs as she rubs her eyes.
"Okay." The sheriff says as if he doesn't understand. "Do you think you might be able to come down, give us an idea who our victim might be?" he asks.
"I'm on a book tour Sheriff." Brennan says. "And it's the middle of the night." She adds.
"I realise that, my wife is a big fan. Its how I know you're here." Sheriff Anderson says. "And I'm sorry about the hour but…" Brennan cuts him off. She knows she's going to help. I can hardly say no.
"Give me the address, I'll be there as soon as I can." Brennan sighs. A few minutes later she grabs her jacket and bag and dashes out her hotel room. As she sits in a cab she begins to feel that thing in her stomach she gets whenever a new case comes around. The only thing missing is that her usual partner isn't here to help her.
At five am the cab pulls up at a warehouse surrounded by police and to Brennan's surprise, two FBI agents, who disappear into the warehouse as the cab comes to a stop. An image of Booth flashes before her eyes and her heart beats a little faster. She knows he isn't here but this scene is so familiar to her she can't help but think about him. But that's nothing unusual. She's been thinking about him a lot in the last few weeks. More than I should.
"Dr Brennan." A man Brennan presumes to be Sheriff Anderson judging by the uniform and badge approaches her and extends his hand. "I'm Sheriff Anderson, thank you for coming down."
"Where are the remains?" Brennan asks.
"Right through here." Sheriff Anderson gestures through the door and into the warehouse. Brennan strides past him and enters the scene. She sees the two men in FBI jackets standing near the remains.
"Can you step away from the remains." She calls over to them. Both men spin around, a little surprised. "I don't want you contaminating the scene." Sheriff Anderson nods at the FBI agents and escorts Brennan over.
"Dr Brennan, Special Agents Wilson and Hardy." The Sheriff introduces them.
"It's nice to meet you Dr Brennan, we've heard a lot about your work with the FBI." Wilson smiles and shakes Brennan's hand.
"I didn't realise my work was so well known." Brennan furrows her brow.
"Word travels. Special Agent Booth is building quite the reputation for solve rates thanks to you." Hardy chips in. Brennan fakes a smile, a little unnerved by these agents knowledge of her and her work with Booth. She then crouches by the remains and starts to make notes.
"Looks like a female, approximately twenty to twenty five years of age. She's been dead roughly eight weeks." Brennan states.
"Fits the profile." Wilson states.
"Can you tell how she died?" Sheriff Anderson asks.
"I'll need to take a closer look at the remains in a lab." Brennan says.
"We can have the remains taken to the local hospital." Hardy says. "I'm sure they can help you."
"Thank you." Brennan replies. As the agents and the Sheriff look on, Brennan begins the tedious process of logging and packing the bones for transport. As she works she smiles inside thinking about the banter she would usually share with Booth. She hates to admit it but she loves working cases with him. He makes things fun and as much as he drives her mad, she misses him now that he's not around. Even more so now that Agents Wilson and Hardy keep getting in her way. She's already told them to back away several times but the damn agents don't seem to get it.
When the morning comes, Brennan yawns and rubs her burning eyes. She spent what was left of the night and most of the early morning in a lab at the local hospital. For her efforts she has managed to determine the cause of death of the young woman to be a multiple stabbing to the chest area with a sharp instrument, which apparently matches the profile of an existing serial killer. But now, finished with her examination, Brennan has sent the remains by courier to the Jeffersonian for Angela to do a facial reconstruction and for Zach to clean the bones to look for further evidence. The equipment at her lab is so much better than here. It took all her persuasive skills to get the hospital to provide her with a microscope.
Having returned to her hotel and pacified a frantic Arthur by apologising profusely for screwing up his schedule, Brennan takes a shower, changes into a nice summer skirt and tank top and is ready to sit through another book signing. She has enjoyed the signings more than she thought she would but today, with a case looming over her, she doesn't feel much like smiling at the fans and scrawling her signature hundreds of times over. Looking out the window, Brennan can see the queue of people goes out the door and around the block. It's been the same in every town she's stopped in. Who'd have thought I'd be this popular?
By lunch-time the queue has dwindled and Brennan is hoping she can take a break soon to call her lab. Having had virtually no sleep in two days, she is tired as hell and hangs her head as the last book is placed in front of her.
"Name?" she asks without looking up.
"Special Agent Seely Booth." Her head snaps up when she hears his voice.
"Booth?" her eyes widen in surprise.
"You need me to spell that for you?" he flashes his little boy grin that sends her heart pounding. She looks him up and down taking in the dark blue jeans, T-shirt and casual jacket.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, dumbfounded.
"Cullen got a call this morning. Agents Wilson and Hardy have passed the buck." Brennan is so surprised to see Booth all she can do is stare. "I should have known you couldn't go a couple of weeks without needing to solve a murder." Booth smiles.
"I didn't go looking for this Booth." Brennan finally finds her voice. "The Sheriff asked for help. I was here and…"
"And now I'm here too." Booth shrugs. "So how about we grab some coffee and solve this case." He rubs his hands together in excitement.
"Uh Dr Brennan." Arthur steps forward. "We're moving on tomorrow." He reminds her. "You can't stay here for this case."
"Who are you?" Booth asks, annoyed at the man's interruption. He hasn't seen or spoken to Brennan for weeks and this man is spoiling things.
"Arthur Daly." The young man replies. "Dr Brennan's assistant." He offers his hand but Booth doesn't shake it.
"Arthur, we have a serial murder case here. That takes precedence over…this." Booth gestures around the bookstore. Brennan turns to Arthur and gives him a smile Booth rarely sees. He can only describe it as a charm smile of her own. And by the result, one to rival his.
"Arthur, surely you can reschedule a few things to give me a couple of days." Brennan says sweetly. Booth stares as Arthur readily agrees to help.
"I'll see what I can do Dr Brennan." Arthur says.
"Good, now go do that." Booth shoos him away. He turns quickly back to Brennan. "Bones, are you done signing my book yet?" Booth asks.
"You seriously want me to sign this for you?" she asks, her pen hovering over the first page.
"Of course." Booth smiles at her. "Come on, I want you to write 'To the greatest FBI Agent in the world, all my love and kisses, Bones'." He grins cheekily. Brennan shields the page as she scrawls a message with a grin on her face. Closing the book she smiles and hands it over to Booth. He flips the cover open and reads her message, rolling his eyes.
"To the greatest pain in my ass, Dr Temperance Brennan." As Booth closes the book, Brennan stands up, a broad smile on her face.
"Thanks Bones, thanks a lot."
"My pleasure Booth." Brennan grabs her bag and strides past Booth, leaving him to follow like a puppy.
