AN: Because I love you all so much, I'm updating this story rather quickly. And if the weather that Booth grouses about seems implausible to you, you probably don't live in Southern California. It has notoriously unpredictable weather in December, and I myself have been through many Christmases when it was in the nineties out here. Kind of like last year. That's right, very warm until April when it got freezing (mid-sixties) out of nowhere. Anyway, enough of my rant. Enjoy the chapter.
Booth looked out the window, bleary-eyed and swearing that he would never, ever be on a flight at five in the morning again. He did a quick calculation in his head and realized that he would be in the San Diego area at seven in the morning.
On a hunch that Matthew would have a job elsewhere in the country, Booth had a fingerprint trace done and discovered a Bill Grove teaching science at El Capitan High School in Lakeside, a town east of San Diego. It was the only information he had to go on, and since fingerprinting was required to teach, he was going with the information given. Hopefully, he'd be willing to return to DC to see Temperance, or this would be a wasted trip.
With those thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, he closed his eyes to get some sleep on the flight out. Bones, you'd better appreciate this effort, or I don't know what I'll do.
XxXxX
Temperance stumbled to her door, her mind still fogged with sleep. She'd been having the most delicious dream, and was not happy with the early morning intruder into her fantasies. She opened the door, surprised to see Angela standing there, smiling.
"Good morning Sweetie! Hurry up and get dressed, so we can go to breakfast before we do our holiday shopping."
"Ange, it's seven in the morning, and for once I was planning to sleep in. Why are you even up at this hour?" Tempe asked as she moved aside and let her best friend into the apartment.
"I told you, breakfast, and then shopping. I know you haven't done any, and you are not going to get away with not celebrating this year."
"Couldn't this have waited a couple of hours?" Tempe grouched. Angela was never perky in the morning. Why was she so perky?
"Nope, 'cause we'll be gone all day. Now hurry up and get ready so we can leave, okay?"
"Fine." Brennan threw a nasty look in Angela's direction before turning toward her room to shower and get dressed. Once she left the room, Angela pulled out her cellphone to leave a message for Booth.
"Okay Booth, Operation Christmas is in its second phase. I'll call you later with an update. Have fun in Cali, and I'll see you two this evening." She put away her phone and looked around the apartment to do a mental layout for Christmas Eve. There was plenty of space for the tree she picked out, and all of the decorations would compliment the décor. She grinned at the plan she and Booth hashed out on the way to the airport. She agreed to drop him off and pick him up when his plane got in at eleven that evening. Please let Matthew agree to come with Booth. This has to work.
She mused to herself a little longer, then turned when Tempe came out of the room dressed and ready to go.
"Alright Ange, let's go. I'm having dinner with David tonight, so I have to be back by six this evening."
"Dinner with him again? Aren't you even the slightest bit mad that he hit Booth? I would be. I still am."
"It was a misunderstanding, that's all. Can we just drop it?"
"Fine. Now, let's go because I'm starving." Angela opened the door and walked out into the chilly morning air with Brennan following closely behind her.
XxXxX
Booth stepped off the plane and headed through the terminal to pick up his rental car. He looked out at the bright sunshine and shook his head. He still couldn't believe what the weather report was. It's late December. How in Christ's sake can it be expected to reach ninety today? Admittedly, it was a nice change from the snow in Washington, but ninety?
He finally got out to his car and looked at the directions he pulled up. Lakeside was about half an hour away, and at the early hour there wouldn't be any traffic. Booth started the car and drove from the airport, praying that Matthew wouldn't put up a struggle.
The drive out to Lakeside was uneventful, and what surprised Booth the most was the amount of greenery there was in the area. He thought about his time with Brennan in Los Angeles, with thesort of Concrete Jungle that was there as well as the beaches. This however , was different. The area still had a very rural feel to it. As he finally made his way off the 8 East onto Los Coches Road, he realized exactly how rural it was. Homes lining the road had horses and goats among other animals fenced in the front yard. Somehow, it wasn't his idea of what Sand Diego was like. He'd always pictured blonde surfers everywhere.
He followed the road to Woodside Avenue. Wow, this place really need some work. Many of the buildings at the intersection were closed, and not because of the early hour. The town just seemed to exist as a suburb, but there was no effort being put into revitalizing the town. He continued along turning onto Marilla Drive. The houses in the area were older, and looked like they had been there since at least the fifties. They sat back from the road and were surrounded by both hill and small fields and ditches.I never would have pictured someone like Matthew Brennan being here, but maybe that's just because it's the perfect cover for him.
Finally, he reached Westhill Road. Up on a hill sat a large White house with yellow trim. The paint was peeling, and the yard looked a little unkempt. Well, this is it. Booth pulled into the driveway and killed the engine on the car. He made his way to the door and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. It took a few minutes for Matthew to make it to the door, but based on the size of the house, that wasn't a surprise. For almost eight in the morning, Matthew Brennan was surprisingly put together.
"Can I help you?" he asked. Oh yeah, this is him. This is Tempe's father.
"Mr. Grove? My name is Special Agent Seeley Booth. I'm working on an ongoing investigation and would like to ask you a few questions." Booth pulled out his badge and showed it to Tempe's father. The man looked at it, his brows knit together as though trying to place the name.
"Of course. Please come in." Matthew stepped out of the way and allowed Booth inside. The house was definitely deceiving on the outside. With the paint peeling, it didn't look well cared for, but upon inspection, the inside was almost opulent. The living room had a large stone fireplace at its center, and the walls were of panels covered in white brocaded wall paper. The carpet was a thick beige, and the furniture was obviously expensive and just as intricate as the rest of the room. Matthew motioned for Booth to sit down and did the same.
"Now, what are these questions of yours Agent Booth?"
"I'm investigating the disappearance of Max and Ruth Keenan. They were bank robbers in the Midwest during the seventies." Booth watched in slight amusement as Matthew Brennan began to sweat a little. He pretended not to notice.
"Why would you think that a science teacher like myself would know anything about bank robbers?"
"Look, Bill, is it? I'm not going to hedge around this. You know exactly why I'm asking you. You changed your identity in 1978 to Matthew Brennan, and again in 1991 when McVicar was after you. I looked into your records. I can't find any record of your employment before 1994 when you accepted the job of chemistry teacher at El Capitan High School."
"What do you want with me? Are you here to arrest me?" A hard edge came to his voice. Booth looked at the man with a serious expression. The last thing he wanted was for Matthew to panic.
"I want you to come back to DC with me and spend Christmas with your daughter. I'm not here to arrest you. At the moment, I don't care what's in your past. All I want is to give your daughter the best Christmas gift I can think of."
"You're her partner, aren't you?" The realization finally hit Matthew Brennan.
"Yes, I am, and I would do anything to make sure that she's happy." The two men held each other's stare. Matthew contemplated his position as he watched the special agent. If he didn't agree to go, he would probably be put under arrest for robbery.
"You're a clever one Agent Booth. Did you use this same tactic to get Russ to help you track down McVicar?"
"You might say that."
"Well Agent Booth, when do we leave?"
"Our flight leaves at three this afternoon. I'd suggest you pack some warm clothes. Unlike here, we're having a white Christmas.
A/N: Okay, if anyone is from Lakeside and you got mad at the description of the town, I don't apologize as it is my hometown and even though it is a little rundown, it still has a soft spot in my heart. It also occurs to me that I made Booth take the long way around because he should have gotten off of the 67 freeway, not the 8, but oh well. Anyway, I hope you liked it.
