A/N: Once again, thanks for all the great reviews: ) I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again before Monday, as I have a research paper to write, so this chapter's extra long. Enjoy!

Chapter Three

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16 Lakeview Drive

Pearson's Residence

11 am

"Serena, if you could just tell us everything you remember about that night..." Booth sat on a couch across from Serena, Brennan beside him, listening intently.

"Okay." Serena took a deep breath and swallowed before continuing. "They got home from work between 5 and 6, and started getting ready for that party. The party was supposed to start at 7, and they were rushing so they wouldn't be late. They'd been talking about it for weeks. See, we moved here not that long ago; we didn't know anybody. And then, these people, they're supposed to be really rich, and - " she stopped, looking like she had said too much, and then continued. "Anyway, they were getting ready and I was planning on just hanging out at home, you know - watch tv, order pizza. They left at like 6:50. They said they'd be back late, so I didn't worry. I went to bed, and then the next morning they still weren't back. I tried calling them, but they never picked up. I left messages, but when they weren't back by noon, that's when I called the police." Having finished her account, she looked up at Booth and Brennan, sadness clear in her eyes.

Booth leaned forward a bit. "Did you hear anything unusual after your parents left?"

"No, I don't even remember hearing their car. I guess I wasn't really paying attention. Right before I went to bed I thought I heard something, but I was pretty jumpy...I had just finished watching Valentine." She looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Brennan spoke then for the first time since sitting down on the couch, "I don't- What is that?"

Serena looked up, surprised. "Oh, its a horror movie," she said, smiling softly at the anthropologist.

"Oh," Brennan said sheepishly, and looked at Booth, who was smiling slightly, despite trying to keep a straight face.

Booth cleared his throat. "Is it alright if we look around a bit?"

Serena nodded, "Yeah, sure."

Booth turned to Brennan. "I think we should start outside, around front."

Brennan nodded. "I'll go get Zack and Hodgins."

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Booth wandered around the front yard as the squints looked for clues. He stopped behind Brennan, who was on the driveway near the garage (where the Pearsons' car had been parked), picking up anything that could be analyzed later.

"Could you stop that?" she said without turning around.

"Stop what?" Booth asked, watching as she picked up something that glinted in the sunlight.

"Watching me. It makes me nervous." She took out another evidence bag and shifted to a new spot.

"Oh, sorry." Booth walked over to Hodgins, who was combing the front lawn near the house. "Find anything?"

Clearly excited, Hodgins stood and turned around, holding out a small beetle. "Yeah - did you know, these people have twelve different species of arthropod living in their yard? I mean, nothing cool, like coleoptera meloidae, but - man, have they got some well-fertilized soil."

Annoyed, Booth pushed Hodgins' hand and the wriggling beetle out of his face. "Anything that might be relevant to the case?"

"No," Hodgins replied, dropping the beetle back into the grass.

Booth stalked off and came to Zack, who was searching the front bushes and walkway. "Please tell me you found something," he said, giving Zack a hopeful smile.

"Actually - I did." Zack handed Booth a piece of a gold-chained necklace. "It was tread into the soil near the bushes."

At that point, Brennan came over, having overheard the find. "Good job Zack." She turned to Booth, looking disdainful. "How did the FBI forensics team miss that?" she asked, taking the necklace and putting it in an evidence bag.

Booth shrugged. "Can I have that?" he asked, gesturing to the bag Brennan was putting with the other evidence. Booth took the necklace and jogged up the front steps into the house. He found Serena sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space. She looked up as he approached.

Booth put the bag in front of her. "Do you recognize this?"

Serena stared at it, wide-eyed. "Yeah, its my mom's. She was wearing it when they left."

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Medico-Legal Lab

Jeffersonian

7pm

Brennan, Zack, and Hodgins worked to gather whatever data they could from the currently limited existing evidence. Angela, who didn't have much she could help with at the lab, had left for a date. Booth had left some time after that, though he didn't mention where he was going.

So far, the squints were having better luck than the FBI forensics team, but not much. The forensics team had found no suspicious fingerprints at the scene, and the squints couldn't get much of anything from the necklace.

In addition the front of the house, they had also looked inside the garage and the back yard, but had found nothing. They had taken an impression of the footprint where the necklace was found, but so far they were unable to get anything useful from it; it hadn't exactly been a very good specimen by the time they had found it.

It seemed increasingly evident that the Pearsons had been kidnapped, apparently before even reaching their car, yet, the car was missing as well. If more leads didn't come to light soon, they would officially be at a dead end.

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Wong Foo's

7:30 pm

Booth sat at the bar, eating the food Sid had assured him would make him feel better. Booth had insisted that he felt fine, but Sid always knew.

It was true, Booth would normally have gone home to eat on a day like this, and he was definitely trying to avoid Sidney. He just didn't want to have to deal with him right now - him, or the feelings and memories he brought back to the surface.

Booth finished the last of his Lo Mein and paid for the meal. He said goodbye to Sid on his way out and headed for his car. He figured he'd just go home, make sure Sidney hadn't burned down the apartment or anything, and get a few things. Then he'd head back to the lab and see how things were coming along with the squints.

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Booth unlocked the front door, glad at least to see that Sidney hadn't gotten into any obvious trouble. Even in the army he had always been a troublemaker, no matter how many times he was reprimanded for it. So far, there was no reason for Booth to assume that that had changed.

Most of the apartment was darkened, and Booth wondered if Sydney had gone out. Then he remembered that the front door had been locked, and Sidney didn't have a key. Booth walked deeper into the apartment and stopped when he heard Sidney's voice drifting out of the kitchen.

"...so I'll meet you there? Say, 8:30?"

Booth moved to the doorway and listened in.

"...okay, yeah. I'll see you there. Bye."

Sidney hung up the phone and looked up, seeing Booth for the first time. "Oh, hey Booth."

Booth looked at Sidney questioningly. "Who was that?"

"Just an old friend. I'm meeting him later." Sidney stood up and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. "Oh, hey - can you give me a ride?"

Booth sighed, wishing he had left before Sidney had finished the phone call. "Yeah. I have to stop at the lab first though."

"Sure. Thanks Booth." Sidney slapped him on the back and walked past him out to the car.

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Booth reached the open office door and knocked.

Brennan looked up. "Booth, hi."

He stepped into the office. "Hey. Got anything?"

Brennan stood up and came around to the front of the desk, leaning on the edge. "Not much. We found a small piece of metal with some sort of decorative design engraved on it. We don't know what it might be from. The necklace we can tell was pulled off in some way since it was broken, but we already knew that. There was a small amount of blood on it, but it definitely belonged to the mother. We also found what appears to be a paint-chip at the bottom of the driveway, which I assume is from their car. We're still waiting on the analysis to come back on some other items." Booth nodded, absorbing the information.

At that moment, Hodgins stuck his head in the doorway. "Hey guys, Sidney just invited us to his poker game. You up for it?"

"Who's Sidney?" Brennan asked, confused.

Hodgins nodded at Booth. "Booth's friend."

Brennan turned to Booth, noticing a dark look in his eyes. "He needed a ride...he followed me in..." he said by way of explanation. Whoever this Sidney was, he couldn't be a good friend, the way Booth was acting.

At this point, Hodgins turned to Brennan. "So, do you wanna go or not?" he asked, trying to sound hopeful, though he highly doubted that she would even consider it.

"I don't know..." Brennan looked at Booth; it was his friend inviting them.

"Well, apparently I'm his 'chauffeur' now, so - yeah...I'm going," Booth said, hoping that Brennan might go. It wouldn't be quite so unbearable if she were there.

Brennan nodded. "Yeah, I'll go." She figured that since Booth didn't really want to go anyway, and the rest of them wouldn't be able to do anything more at the lab until the analysis came back, she and Booth could at least discuss the case while they were there.

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The squints and Booth followed Sidney into the seedy-looking establishment, expressing various degrees of distaste. However, once Sidney had spotted his friend and called them to the table, they all went over; some more willingly than others. Zack looked extremely uncomfortable, but Hodgins pulled him into a chair, while Brennan was literally being dragged by Angela over to the table. Booth stayed where he was, by the bar.

Sidney looked back at him. "Booth, aren't you coming?"

Booth simply shook his head.

Sidney laughed. "Yeah, right. Just come sit down."

"No." Booth had said it more harshly than he had intended, receiving surprised looks from everyone there.

Sidney shrugged and sat down.

Booth sat at the bar, his back to them, ignoring Brennan's concerned gaze, and ordered a drink.

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After a couple of hands, Brennan was sure she had thoroughly proved to herself and everyone else that she just wasn't good at poker.

She got up and walked over to Booth. He had turned around and now sat watching the others as they played. He was fidgeting nervously with something in his hands, and hadn't even noticed Brennan approach. She sat down next to him and looked more closely at the object in his hands. She realized that it was a poker chip; one she remembered seeing him with before. He'd often toss it around while he was 'positing a scenario'.

"Booth," she said, trying to get his attention.

"What? Oh, hi," he said, managing a smile. "What's up?" Booth asked, when Brennan hadn't said anything; just sat there staring at him. He felt somewhat like something under one of her microscopes.

"I get the impression that you don't like Sidney very much, yet you called him your friend."

"Yeah. Well, we used to be friends. We were in the army together. When I decided to leave, well - he didn't want me to. Then the other day, he shows up, acting like its just like old times..." at this point he trailed off, shrugging.

"Is that why you didn't come over with rest of us?" She doubted it. It seemed like there was more to it than that.

Booth shifted in his seat, looking away from her. "No."

"What then?" Brennan asked, concern coloring her voice.

Booth sighed, meeting her eyes again; considering her. He swallowed a couple of times and then spoke. "I - have a gambling problem."

"Oh," Brennan didn't really know what to say. She felt bad. No wonder he had been sitting here looking so anxious. He had been here, forced to watch while they played - it must have been torture. "I'm...sorry?" she said lamely, wishing for once that she had Angela's skill for knowing what to say.

Booth chuckled at Brennan's attempt. "Thanks Bones. It's okay though; really. I haven't gambled in four years. I can handle it." He smiled reassuringly.

The other squints and Sidney walked up then, having finished their last hand.

"Booth - ready to go?" Sidney asked, putting on his jacket.

"Definitely," Booth said, relieved. He grabbed his coat and headed out the door. "See you tomorrow Bones."

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Sorry if this chapter was a bit slow. In the next chapter it starts to really get into the case and the issue with Sidney.