A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews as the story continues. They are appreciated !

Jarred awake by the sound of his phone ringing, Booth untangled himself from Brennan's embrace and reached over to find it on the nightstand, jostling her awake in the process. "Booth…," he growled. "I hope you've got a real good reason for calling…otherwise leave me the fuck alone..."

Agent Turner laughed on the other end of the call. "Sorry to bother you, Booth, but I wanted you to know that I've arrested Lance Sweets...he was caught red handed tampering with evidence. I'm getting ready to interview him, and wondered if you wanted to observe."

Booth seriously considered the question for a few seconds, until Brennan's hand worked its way across his chest and then down his abdomen. "Nah...I trust you, Joe. Is Ms Julian gonna be there?"

"I think so. When I called over to the US Attorney's office about the arrest, I talked to someone else about the case, but a few minutes later she called me back and said she'd be handling it personally...something about wanting to make sure things were taken care of right…"

"That sounds like her. She's..." Booth hesitated, trying to finish his sentence while Brennan nibbled on his ear. "...she's ferocious when it comes to rooting out the bad guys, and the fact that it's one of our own…trust me, that's gonna get her riled up."

"Yeah, I get that. Believe me...I'm glad she's on our side. I'd sure hate to get crosswise with her!" Chuckling, Turner checked his watch. "Speaking of which, she'll be here any minute…"

"Um…" Inhaling sharply as Brennan climbed on top of him, Booth groaned. "Tell you what...I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment. I'll come into the office first thing tomorrow if you want and we can discuss your meeting with Sweets then…"

"Nah...you two need to stay put so we can keep Vorstenbach guessing about your whereabouts. If I have any questions after I talk to Sweets, I'll come by and see you tomorrow...and um...I'll make sure I call first. I won't show up unannounced." Smiling as he heard the amorous background noises on the call, Turner cleared his throat. "Talk to you soon…bye…"

"Bye." After ending the call, Booth turned off the phone and tossed it across the room. Taking Brennan into his arms, he flipped them that he was hovering over her, his eyes dark with passion. "Now...where were we?"

"Involved in foreplay, I believe…" She giggled softly as she caressed his face. "Who was on the phone?"

"It was Turner...he was keeping me up to date on the case." He kissed her passionately. "I'll tell you about it in a few minutes…"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "A few minutes?"

Gazing down at his beautiful girlfriend, Booth gave her a cocky grin. "You're right...make that a couple of hours from now…or better yet...later tonight...maybe around the time we have our midnight snack..."

"Good idea…" Putting her arms around him, she smiled back at him. "That sounds so much better…"

Laughing, he gave her another kiss. "Yeah...I think so, too."

Oooooooooo

Sweets was sweating profusely as he sat in the windowless interrogation room waiting for a public defender to arrive. He knew he was not only on the verge of losing his career...he was in deep trouble with the law as well, but right now neither of those problems were his biggest concern. He was more worried about dealing with Vorstenbach...or rather, not dealing with him, since it looked as if he was going to be unable to arrange their appointment for handing over the phone.

Agent Turner had taken his personal phone from him when he was arrested, and so there was no way for him to make contact with the hitman...no way to let Vorstenbach know that the exchange had to be called off...not that it would do any good even if he could get in touch with the guy. The hitman was one of the most focused individuals he'd ever known...even more so than Dr. Brennan.

So if Vorstenbach couldn't reach him to set up the meeting, there was no telling what the guy would do next, and that worried Sweets more than the prospect of being unemployed or going to federal prison. At least in prison, he had a good chance of staying alive...better than if he had to take on some crazed assassin by himself.

Finally the door opened and a marshal escorted another young man into the room. "Mr. Lance Sweets? I'm Blake Knight...I'll be representing you in this matter." He sat down at the table and opened his briefcase to retrieve some folders. "I've read the charges against you and as far as the evidence tampering charges go...the case is somewhat questionable on that count, and as far as conspiracy to commit murder...well, let's just say that's a real stretch…"

Groaning softly, Sweets regarded the young man with dismay. He's even younger than I am! How can he possibly help me? "Um...I assume you've had actual trial experience, Mr. Knight…"

Mr. Knight nodded vigorously as he looked through the files. "Of course!"

"I mean in criminal cases…" Sweets studied the lawyer carefully. "...like major crimes and stuff…"

"Oh." Mr. Knight shrugged slightly. "Well, you know, the law is the law, no matter what the crime is…"

"Right." Sweets sighed audibly. "I'm so screwed…"

Mr. Knight skimmed through a stack of papers, marking some of the pages with a highlighter. "Just remember...don't say anything. Let me do the talking, okay?"

Before Sweets could answer, there was a sharp rap on the door, which was followed by the entrance of Agent Turner and Caroline Julian. Turner helped Ms Julian with her chair before sitting down himself and flashing his badge. "Gentlemen, as you probably know, I'm Agent Turner. I believe we all know why we're here, so...let's get started." He put a file folder on the table and opened it. "Mr. Sweets, according to Ms Montenegro, you knew the burner cell phone she was working on in her office was from the crime scene where Deputy Director Hacker's body was found. You also knew it was important evidence not only in solving his murder, but also in the kidnapping of Dr. Brennan and the attempted murder of Special Agent Booth…"

Shaking his head, Mr. Knight interrupted. "There's no way that phone can be tied to anyone's kidnapping or an attempted murder. It's a disposable cell phone...you can't prove who purchased it or who that phone actually belonged to…"

Nodding slightly at Ms. Julian, who nodded in return, Turner smiled. "Never underestimate Ms. Montenegro...she was quite busy in the few hours that she had access to the phone. Based on the number of calls made to known associates of Hacker and the calls he received from them, and the number of text messages he sent and received from those same associates, many of whom work at the FBI, it seems plausible that it's his phone. Add to that the fact that his fingerprints are all over the case, and it's safe to assume that the phone was his...that would be enough to stipulate his ownership in court."

Ms. Julian was grim as she looked at the young men sitting across from her. "Before you get any more fancy ideas, Cher', the FBI techs found Hacker's thumbprint on the SIM card inside the phone. In fact, his prints were the only ones present inside. That's all the proof we need...the phone was his."

Mr. Knight scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So Ms. Montenegro is so good at her job that she left a vital piece of evidence in her office unattended? It was in plain sight where anyone could take it! Seriously, Agent Turner...your evidence against my client is marginal at best…"

"Ms. Montenegro has worked with your client for several months, Mr. Knight. She knows he works for the FBI...she thought, based on that fact, that she could trust him to uphold the law. Of course, now we know she was mistaken…that he wasn't deserving of her trust..."

"And so your chain of evidence was compromised, right?" Wearing a smug expression, the young lawyer shrugged. "I'll just make the case that there's no way to know whether or not my client was the only one in her office. Anyone could've entered and handled the phone..."

"Well, that'd be true, you little couillon, except for one thing." Caroline looked contemptously at the young man sitting across from her. "Due to the extensive foot traffic in and out of the lab area, Ms. Montenegro has had security cameras in her office...and when we looked at the video, the only person we saw in there, other than her, was Mr. Sweets." She pushed a photograph across the table. "Here he is...pickin' up that phone…and when it comes to fingerprints, Sweets' were on the outside of the phone, too...just his and Hacker's..."

"So? Even if he was the person who picked up the phone, you can't tell what he's doing with it…he might have been looking at it...maybe it rang and he decided to answer it, thinking he'd be helping the case. There could be a perfectly good explanation that doesn't involve anything illegal.," Knight insisted. "You can't prove he had any ill intent…"

"We checked it after we took it from him...several items under his name had been deleted. It's pretty obvious what happened." Turner gave the attorney a steely glare. "In addition, the woman who's in charge of the FBI evidence room stated that Mr. Sweets was found alone in the evidence storeroom...a storeroom where he shouldn't have been without prior authorization...looking for that phone. When she told him it was at the Jeffersonian, it seems he went there to look for it. When he found it, he allegedly tried to delete any evidence of his involvement with Deputy Director Hacker and Hacker's dealings with a known hitman, Dick Vorstenbach."

"Circumstantial…"

Quickly rising from his chair, Turner pounded on the table with his fist. "I walked in on him while he was doing the damage, Mr. Knight! I caught him in the act! What more could you want? Face it...he did it!"

"Easy, Cher'..." Caroline reached out and put her hand on Turner's arm. "I know you want to bust that rotten little weasel, but we need to think of the bigger picture…"

Puffing out a sigh, the agent gave her a curt nod before sitting down again. "You're right." He turned to Sweets. "Fine." Exhaling slowly, he stared at Sweets. "Listen...we've got enough to press charges for evidence tampering. Ms. Julian has informed me that we don't have enough direct evidence to make the conspiracy to murder charges stick, but even so, you're looking at the possibility of 20 years at a federal penitentiary and a 10,000 dollar fine on the tampering charge…"

Sweets gasped audibly. "Oh my God…"

Mr. Knight silenced him with a stern glance. "Based on this flimsy evidence, do you seriously think you can get any court to levy a sentence like that against Mr. Sweets? If...and that's a big if...you can prove he was tampering with that phone, this would be my client's first offense of any sort...he works for the FBI...he's got an exemplary record…"

"Hardly exemplary…" Caroline grunted as she scowled at the young attorney. "He's used his position as an FBI shrink to meddle in the affairs of the agents he works with on several occasions, with contemptible results. He'll likely lose his position with the Bureau when all is said and done." She eyed Mr. Knight with disdain. "As far as proving this case in a court of law…" A small grin passed over her face. "...I'd enjoy the challenge. I can't wait to put his scrawny ass in jail. I'm tired of him getting away with what amounts to malpractice."

Backing down slightly, Knight exhaled slowly. "I see. However, no matter how you look at it, this is his first offense. Surely we can work out a deal. 20 years is excessive for this situation…"

After thinking things over for a few seconds, Turner spoke to the woman sitting next to him. "What do you think, Ms. Julian?"

"It depends." Caroline pursed her lips slightly as fidgeted with a paperclip. "If Sweets helps us, I think we can help him in return." She glared sternly at the psychologist. "If you follow our instructions to the letter, we can offer you this: no public trial, and you'll be charged with a misdemeanor. You'll get six months in a minimum security prison in Virginia, you'll pay no fine, you'll receive 5 years probation, and you'll voluntarily resign your position at the FBI. You'll also need to come clean on what you know about Hacker's involvement with Dick Vorstenbach." She paused for dramatic effect. "Otherwise, we'll go to trial with lots of publicity, you'll be charged with a felony, and I'll be asking for ten years at Leavenworth and a 7,500 dollar fine. You'll be fired, of course, and you'll lose your license to practice psychology. You won't even be able to offer professional help to people if their dogs act up, so..." She shrugged slightly at Sweets' shocked expression as she pulled a document out of her briefcase. "Your choice…"

Exhaling slowly, Sweets glanced at his attorney, who gave him a slight nod. "Okay...I'll help you. What do you want me to do?"

"First we need to make it all nice and legal." Caroline pushed the page towards him and gave him a pen. "Sign right there."

After checking the signatures, Turner pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket. "Great. Now for step two: call Dick Vorstenbach and set up a meeting for tomorrow morning…tell him you've got the phone he wants…"

"He won't go for that…," Sweets said in a panicked tone. "He said he wanted to meet me tonight…"

"Tell him a version of the truth...tell him you got picked up for questioning by the FBI and now you're under surveillance. Tell him you can meet him early tomorrow at Rock Creek Park...that you think you can give the agents watching you the slip if you go there early in the morning." Turner handed the burner cell to Sweets. "Here...use this phone...Vorstenbach will recognize the number. Go ahead…"

Taking the phone with shaking hands, Sweets made the call. "Hey, it's me...no...no, I can't...not tonight. I just left the Bureau...they picked me up for questioning. They're onto me, but they probably don't know about the phone...no, I can't...they're watching me. Listen...meet me at 7 am tomorrow morning...the pavilion at Rock Creek Park...of course, I'll be alone...yeah, I know...I know!"

Ending the call, Sweets put the phone on the table. "He said he'll meet me...but he's gonna check out the phone...he says he'll know if anything's been deleted…"

"No problem." Turner wore a faint smile as he picked up the phone. "We'll just have Ms. Montenegro replace everything on the phone that you deleted while you were in her office. It'll be identical in every way."

"What?" Sweets' jaw dropped. "How?"

"You don't think she left the original phone out in plain sight, do you? She's a lot smarter than that, okay? That phone is in a safe in her office. This is a reasonable facsimile...it fooled you, and it'll fool Vorstenbach."

Mr. Knight was furious. "That's entrapment...you tricked my client into accepting your deal…"

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the attorney. "We can prove intent to destroy evidence if we want. Believe me...you do not want to test me on this…I suggest you stick with the deal."

Sweets held up his hand to interrupt his lawyer's protest. "Never mind, okay?" He sighed softly. "I need to do this...it's the only way I can make things up to Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan." He nodded at Agent Turner. "What do you want me to do now?"

"You're going to meet Vorstenbach tomorrow morning, as planned, but we'll have agents posted all around the park. When he shows up, you give him the phone...and then we take him down." Seeing Sweets' panic, Turner tried to reassure him. "You'll be in a protective vest, of course...we'll be right behind you...we can protect you…"

"I hope so…" Sweets closed his eyes, wondering how he'd gotten himself into this horrible quandary. "I hope so."

Standing up to leave, Turner tried to smile. "We will."

As she stood up to leave, Ms. Julian shook her head as she looked at Sweets. "I'm so disappointed with you, Cher'..."

Mr. Knight soon followed suit, picking up his papers and inserting them into his case. "I'll be in touch.

Now Sweets was alone in the interrogation room as he waited for the marshal to take him back to his cell. Literally without a friend in the world, he'd never felt so alone in his life.

He was terrified, but...he knew he had to face his fears and meet Vorstenbach in the morning.

That was the only way to make amends for all the wrongs he'd done...the only way to redeem himself in the eyes of those who used to care about him. He'd have to step up and do the right thing...no matter how frightened he was.

Sighing softly he stared at his hands. This is the price I have to pay for the bad choices I've made. I just hope I get the chance to apologize to everyone I've hurt...

Oooooooooo

Relieved that the deal had been made, Turner left the interrogation room and checked his phone for messages, surprised to see he had several voicemails. He groaned softly as he listened to the first one.

Hey, Turner...it's Agent Elliot...I just noticed a big black SUV sitting outside our location...the safe house over on Houston and 81st in Baltimore...it looks like a government issued vehicle but it has local plates...so I wondered if it was the one that was stolen...I wouldn't give it a second thought but Jackson over at the house on Hickory in Annapolis called me earlier today and asked me about it...he'd seen it, too…I called Hansen, but I can't get any answer,,,I'm gonna have some guys go check out the house he was working at...

The next message made Turner's blood run cold.

Turner...it's Elliot again...they just found Hansen's body lying in the driveway of the safe house where he was working...it looks like he tried to approach a vehicle and it ran him over...it was something big, like an SUV...call me as soon as you get this…

"Vorstenbach.," Turner whispered. "Son of a bitch…I can't wait to take that bastard out...I want him dead..."

Oooooooooo

As they sat down to the meal that had just been delivered by room service, Booth winked at Brennan. "You know, I could get used to this...not having to cook or clean...getting to spend all my time with you...no responsibility…"

Brennan laughed softly. "I think you'd be bored if you had to spend more than a few days without having any responsibility. You'd miss being in charge of your division...you'd miss the hands on part of work…"

"Speaking of hands on…" He waggled an eyebrow at her. "After what Turner heard in the background when he called, I guess he must think we're going at it like wild animals here…"

"And we're doing just that, so his guess would be accurate." Brennan gave him a sultry smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm wondering if this meal is something that would be more enjoyable in our bed…"

"Well…." Booth shrugged slightly. "I don't know...I'm pretty hungry, and it seems like whenever we're in bed together I get distracted...too distracted to eat, you know?" He took a big bite of his sandwich. "However...maybe we could have our dessert in bed…if you know what I mean…"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Surprised to see a shadow of concern cross Booth's face, Brennan took his hand. "You're worried about Sweets, aren't you?"

"Yeah...it sounds like he really screwed up this time. I mean, I wanted him to get tossed from the Bureau, but it looks like he may have committed a serious crime...and he may have to do some jail time…"

Booth was interrupted by his phone. "I guess it's a good thing I turned this thing on again…" He pressed the button to answer. "Booth."

"It's Turner. Listen, I need your help. Sweets is gonna meet Vorstenbach at Rock Creek Park Pavilion tomorrow morning at 7 AM to give him a copy of the phone you found at Hacker's crime scene, and I'd like you to be there when we take that bastard down. I'll put an agent with Dr. Brennan...she'll be safe at the hotel…"

Booth shook his head. "It's not like I can convince her to stay here, Joe...she's gonna want to be at the park, too…she won't want to stay away..."

"I really think that's a bad idea…," Turner began. "Vorstenback is too unpredictable…"

"I do, too...I'll see what I can do. See you tomorrow, Turner."

Seeing Booth's concerned expression as he ended the call, Brennan was shocked. "What's wrong?"

"That was Turner…" Pushing his plate aside, Booth shook his head. "Bones...we need to talk, okay? Sweets is supposed to meet Vorstenbach at a park tomorrow. Turner wants me there...but he wants you to stay here...so you'll be safe...and that's what I want, too."

She was indignant. "Does he really think I'd stay behind while you face down Vorstenbach by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself...I'll be there with several other agents...and Turner will most likely call in SWAT and Metro to help, too. He wants me there for back up, that's all. Please...do this for me, okay? Stay here. Dick Vorstenbach is way too dangerous...and I'd be so worried about you being there that I might not be able to concentrate on what I need to do, so...please stay here tomorrow...I'll call you as soon as I know anything…"

"We'll see." She sighed softly "I won't be very happy about it, but I understand your concerns."

Booth took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Bones. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

She nodded. "I love you, too, Booth." Trying to smile, she picked up a plateful of cherry pie and walked into the bedroom area. "Come on...let's go enjoy our dessert."

Conflicting emotions swirled through Booth's mind as he followed his girlfriend to their bed. He loved her, and he couldn't wait to show her how much…

...but he couldn't wait to take out that goddamn hitman. He knew that's why Turner had called him...Joe wanted him to take the shot to end Vorstenbach.

He knew that pulling the trigger like that was going to be rough. He hadn't been used as a sniper like that in several years, and ending a man's life like that might haunt him for months.

However, he was willing to do whatever it took to rid the world of Dick Vorstenbach.