A/N: things are moving along in our story, and we have several threads that are getting ready to intersect as we move to our finish line. All of the parts will eventually connect to complete the puzzle.

This chapter has several spicy sections, so it's rated M. You can still get the main idea of the chapter if you skim through those section.

At 10:45 that evening, Jessica was in her pajamas, sipping tea as she sat on the couch when she heard the front door being unlocked. Getting up, she greeted Aubrey with a kiss as he walked in holding an armful of ham and his computer bag. When she saw the reason for his full hands, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Two of them? Really, Aubrey?" Reaching up, she took one of the hams. "These must have cost a fortune."

"Yeah, around $140, but come on, these rock. Anyway, I prefer to think of it as an investment. We'll be able to get several meals out these babies." Aubrey was almost salivating at the thought of eating one of them. "We have to take a trip to Smithfield one weekend, Jess. It's a nice little town with some quaint B & Bs, good restaurants...and hams for sale."

"Hams for sale is a good thing." Jessica paused as she followed Aubrey into the kitchen. "But I don't get it. Why did you and Booth go all the way to Smithfield anyway? Surely it wasn't just to buy ham…at least, I'd be surprised if that was Booth's reason for going."

"Oh...I guess I forgot to fill you in on all the details when I texted you about not waiting to have dinner with me because I'd be late, didn't I? And then I didn't get back to you…" Aubrey shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."

"You're right...you didn't give me any details." Seeing that he was trying to ignore her, she hefted her ham on the counter and sat down. "What's going on?"

"Well...um…" Hoping to change the subject, Aubrey turned to rummage through the refrigerator. "I guess one of the hams will fit in here if I move stuff around…"

Jessica knew his tells all too well. "Aubrey...tell me."

She's not going to let this go, is she? Sighing softly, he grabbed a beer out of the fridge before turning back to her. "Okay, but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone, because I'm not sure I have the whole story yet."

"Okay, fine. It's not like you found Beau or anything…" Jessica saw the uneasy expression on Aubrey's face and her jaw dropped. "You and Booth found Beau? OMG…I know Angela said she was helping you guys look for someone today, but Dr. B and I had class this afternoon, so I didn't know who it was, or anything else about it."

"Remember how the SEC and IRS needed him to corroborate what his father had told them and we couldn't find him?"

Jessica nodded. "Yeah...so you two visited Daisy at the NFL yesterday…and she didn't know where he was."

"...which didn't give us much to go on." Aubrey put down his ham on the counter. "When Beau didn't return Hunter's call this morning, we wanted to avoid him being arrested on a material witness warrant...so Angela did us a favor by doing an unofficial search."

"Which is why you two were at the lab this morning. I'm sorry...I was swamped and couldn't stop to see you..."

"That's fine." Remembering Angela's warning after he and Booth had made her mad, he cleared his throat. "Anyway, she worked her magic and found out that he'd rented a place in Smithfield, so we headed down there to where he was staying…"

"Don't go any further than that." Jessica held up her hand to interrupt his story. "The less I know, the better."

"Okay...you're right. So anyway, we found him and after we convinced him that we weren't tracking him down for Daisy, we were able to get him connected to Hunter and Matney via Skype and he verified all that his dad had said." Aubrey opened his beer and started to drink. "Here's the weird thing, though...as I listened to what he told them, I got the impression that he almost knew too much about his dad's business...like he'd been checking up on Martin over the past few months. Beau was really concerned about whether or not his dad was 'dirty', and it made me wonder whether or not he'd been the one to tip off the IRS about his dad's books."

"Really? I can't believe he had to balls to do that!" Jessica was shocked. "I mean, the business is supposed to go to him someday, so I guess he'd be worried about tax liens and stuff, but still...you really think it was him? Surely he didn't do it to bust his dad."

"Yeah, I think he did...and Booth agrees with me, but I don't think he did it to get his dad in trouble. Based on what we know now, he probably thought his father was getting railroaded and so he wanted Maxco and Histavark investigated, without realizing how deeply his father was involved." The agent leaned back against the counter. "Anyway, after talking to the guys, he was really down...he needed some friends to talk to, and since we were already there, we both felt like we should listen to what he had to say, so we had dinner at a restaurant there in town and that's where I bought the hams. I think you'd like Smithfield...they have a lot of places we could stay if we wanted to go down for a weekend."

"A weekend of eating ham and lovemaking...that could be interesting.", Jessica replied saucily before getting up. Opening the freezer, she mentally calculated the available space. "Okay, we can make room for one of the hams in here. Actually, if we cut that other one in half, we can freeze one half and put the other half in the fridge for dinner this weekend."

"Sounds amazing…" Aubrey whipped off his tie and jacket. Rolling up his sleeves, he found a cutting board and a large knife to cut the meat. "So, how were things around here?"

"Andie stopped over tonight and we had pizza. She says hi. After she left, Skinner and I have had a quiet night watching TV while I waited up for you to come home." Jessica pulled a roll of Cling Wrap out of a drawer and set it on the island, grinning at her boyfriend's unspoken question. "Yes, there's some pizza left in the fridge. Top shelf."

"Cool. I'm hungry." Aubrey replied, grabbing the pizza out of the fridge. "At dinner, we talked about the case...and why he left Daisy."

"Not to snoop, but what happened? Just leaving out of the blue doesn't make sense, especially since he loves little Lance so much." Jessica popped her tea in the microwave. Seeing Aubrey's face, the redhead cringed. "It's bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah. He was at the party, Jess...he was in the hallway by Dr. B and Angela's offices and overheard not only your fight with Daisy but her conversation with Oliver."

Jessica gasped in surprise. "Daisy said he refused to come because he was still really depressed, but he must have gone there to surprise her...oh no…poor Beau..."

Aubrey wrapped up both ham halves and put them in their respective storage places. "He asked us to look in on Daisy and Lance, but as for their marriage...that's over. However, he's is torn because of Lance. He loves that little boy like his own but he isn't sure he has a place with him anymore."

"Damn it, Daisy…", Jessica whispered. "Did either you or Booth let her know where Beau is staying?"

"No. He doesn't want to see her now, and I think his request is reasonable. We can always use the excuse that it's case related if anyone asks. Even if I wanted to tell her, I doubt she'll talk to me after I gave her a piece of my mind yesterday when Booth and I were there."

Jessica looked up, knowing tactfulness wasn't her boyfriend's strong suit if he was irritated. "Aubrey, you didn't…"

"I did, Jessica. She's making you out to be the bad guy to assuage her guilt and I won't stand for it. Booth talked to her for a few moments alone before we left, so hopefully she'll come around soon." Aubrey sipped his beer thoughtfully. He felt bad about upsetting his girlfriend, but not about what had happened. "I know you're worried about her...I am, too, but Dr. B and Booth will be around if she needs anything."

"That's good, because she's not talking to Andie, now, either."

Aubrey chewed the last of his cold pizza before starting on another slice. "Why? Andie's not involved in all this...shit between you two.", he asked with a full mouth.

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Before she came over here, Andie met Daisy for drinks at Founding Fathers. She tried to keep me out of the conversation, but Daisy kept bringing up what had happened with Oliver and bad mouthing me...calling me a liar, a manipulator, and accusing me of just being petty. Andie asked her to stop, because she didn't want to get in the middle of it, but Daisy kept going on and on…"

"Can I assume Andie told her off?" Aubrey sipped his beer before taking another bite.

Jessica nodded. "Andie told her she didn't want to be involved and to stop trying to make her pick sides. Daisy's response was to accuse Andie of taking my side against her. She was so irritated that she dropped a ten dollar bill on the table and walked out on Daisy."

"Sorry, Jess." Aubrey put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it tenderly. "I know how bad you feel for Daisy."

"Don't be sorry for me, Superman. Be sorry for Daisy, because she's pushing people away left and right, making their friendship with me her litmus test. If she keeps it up she'll be alone with no friends on top of no husband. I miss her though, and I hate seeing her hurting."

Aubrey exhaled quietly. "I'm sure that once she processes everything, she'll realize that you meant well and she'll want to talk to you so you two can resolve all this."

Jessica shook her head. "I don't think so, Aubrey. I mean, I'm not sure I want to talk to her, either, you know? She put me in a bad spot and blames me for everything. I think our friendship is gone. She was so...angry…she didn't want to listen to anything I said..."

"Because you told her the truth. Jessica, you did the hardest thing a friend can do. For whatever reason, she never told anyone how much she was struggling after Sweets died. She could have reached out to someone a long time ago."

Jessica shrugged as she ran her fingers around the rim of her cup. "Knowing Daisy, she didn't want to burden anyone, especially Dr. B and Booth because of...the whole gambling drama that was going on when she was so close to having Hank, and after Booth was shot and recuperating. Curly and Angela had to deal with his paralysis, too. For Daisy, it's important to not be weak in front of Dr. B, because she admires her so much."

"That's admirable, but because of that, she let things fester to where she pursued an emotionally unavailable man before marrying another man to...reproduce what she had with Lance's father and then took her frustrations out on him and everyone else since her fantasy was not coming true."

Jessica considered Aubrey's point. "It's almost like she was attracted to Oliver because he's smart like Sweets was and then Beau because he has a kind heart like Sweets had. Very weird and very sad…"

"It is. Jessica, keeping quiet would be easy, but sometimes we have to do the hard stuff for the people we love, okay? Daisy is in trouble, but she has to want to move forward. Nobody, not even Dr. B, can make her do that until she's ready to take that step."

"She's heading for rock bottom, and I can't help her." Jessica nodded sadly. "I know you're right...but it still hurts to see her that way."

Aubrey took her hand. "Well, that's because you feel things so strongly, Jess. It's one of the reasons I love you so much. Trust me, you did the right thing by keeping Oliver's feelings a secret from Daisy. Someday, she'll thank you for that, after she apologizes for how she's acted."

"Thank you...but I'm not holding my breath." Jessica squeezed his hand and kissed him. "Ready for bed?"

"Yeah, it sounds good." Aubrey finished his beer and pizza as the redhead finished her tea. "So, anything else exciting happen tonight?"

"Well, my brother Aaron called about an hour ago." Jessica led the way through the living room and up the stairs. "The kids have Spring Break next week like we do at AmU, and with the downstairs remodeling done, he wants to start moving some things down to the house before June. If you don't mind, instead of buying a new bedroom set for that spare bedroom upstairs, how about if we use my old bedroom furniture?"

"That's a great idea...saves us money and a shopping trip. We can go get it this week sometime if Aaron is up for it." Aubrey smiled. "It'll be nice to see your childhood bedroom. Remember? Because of the remodeling in the hallway upstairs, I couldn't at Thanksgiving."

"I know...but you'll get a full tour this time. I think Aaron and the kids will be in town tomorrow night until next Wednesday. He's staying in the apartment above the tasting room because the stove went to crap after Thanksgiving and the new one won't be installed until Monday. We're probably going to need to borrow Stephan's trailer...it's a large set, and you'll want Aaron to help us. Maybe we can take them some ham, have dinner at the tasting room, and then load up the suite at the main house..."

'My ham? Not my beautiful ham...' Aubrey gulped nervously as he stopped unbuttoning his dress shirt. "Wait...do you really expect me to give up some of my ham? I mean, I love you, but...that sort of sacrifice is kind of extreme…"

Jessica narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. "Don't be stingy, Superman. We have plenty. Anyway, I thought you wanted to go back to Smithfield for another ham and some mind blowing sex, right?" Jessica giggled as she pulled back the covers on the bed. "We need to get rid of some ham before we go buy more…"

"Hmm...very logical. I suppose you're right." Aubrey nodded as he pulled off his boxers and threw them in the closet hamper. Grabbing a pair of pajama pants out of the drawer, he pulled them on. "Okay, call Aaron tomorrow and see what day he wants us to come, and tell him we'll bring dinner."

Jessica sighed as Aubrey's impressive posterior was no longer in her view. "Thank you very much, Superman."

"You're welcome." Reaching to turn off the lamp, Aubrey chuckled softly before caressing Jessica's arm. "Now...speaking of coming…let's you and me play find the ham bone…I'll even give you a hint. It's hard and very erect…" The agent's hands made their way over her chest. "...and so are someone's nipples..."

Jessica's laughter cut through the darkness as Aubrey's hands moved under her tank top. "James Aubrey...why do you even bother wearing pants at home?"

"Well...you know...to make things more interesting. The game isn't any fun if you can find it without even trying. Besides…" He chuckled as Jessica wrapped the drawstring of his pants around her finger. "...you've got pajamas on, so in order for the game to be fair, I need to be wearing some, too."

"So does that mean that if I lose my pajamas, you'll lose yours, too?" Jessica grinned as she moved her hand under Aubrey's waistband and squeezed his butt. "I think that would be fair, too."

"Hey...are you just making up the rules as you go along, Jess? It's my game...I should get to make up the rules." He pretended to pout as he caressed her gently. "However, in the absence of the rules being in writing, I guess we can have a no holds barred session of find the ham bone…"

Giggling, Jessica smiled as she snuggled next to Aubrey. "I'd rather play 'hide the ham bone…"

Aubrey grinned as he kissed his girlfriend. "I think that's an excellent idea…"

oooooooooo

The next evening, after a meal of Smithfield ham, homemade au gratin potatoes, green beans, and grape salad, Aubrey patted his belly and groaned happily. "That was a great meal."

"You're right." Aaron grinned as he poured himself another glass of wine. "Thanks for bringing the ham over here. It was delicious."

"No problem. We have plenty." Jessica reached under the table and put her hand on Aubrey's thigh, gently massaging his quads. "We'll probably go to Smithfield soon and get another one. I guess we can pick one up for you if you want…"

"Nah...we'd better wait until we get settled into the new house." Sighing softly, Jessica's brother looked around the dining room in the back of Saoirse Finn's Bethesda tasting room, which was currently holding some of his furniture. "I'll be glad to get all this stuff out of here and into the house. Nadia is due June 18th, so once the baby is born, we want to move as little as possible. Hopefully, she'll go into labor early."

The trio chuckled before Jessica nodded. "I can't believe Niki gave up an opportunity for ham. Where are he and the girls right now?"

"They're hanging out with Uncle Stephan right now.", Aaron chuckled. "They like the fact that they got an extra day off before Spring Break but not so much that they had to help their old man move some furniture down here. Nadia's been really tired with this pregnancy, so she's looking forward to this time by herself."

"How's the remodeling going?" Aubrey clasped Jessica's hand under the table and moved it closer to his groin, trying to not make his pleasure obvious. "Did the...ahem...downstairs need a lot of work?"

"Mostly just some updating. We kept the hardwood floors but took down the wallpaper and did some repainting like we did upstairs last fall. You'll see when you go over there to pick up Jessie's bedroom stuff." Aaron checked his watch. "Speaking of which...we'd better get a move on. I have to run a quick errand before I pick up the trailer at Stephan's, but I'll meet you at the house in about an hour or so."

"Okay.' Pushing himself away from the table, Aubrey gave Jessica a wink on the sly. "We'll see you there."

############

As they left the tasting room, Aubrey glanced at his girlfriend. "You were getting a little frisky at the dinner table."

She giggled softly. "I can't help it. I guess ham makes me horny. Besides, I like the way you look in your jeans and sweatshirt."

"You're looking pretty good yourself, Jess." Admiring her turquoise sweater and dark jeans, Aubrey pursed his lips. "Of course, you always do, but I prefer you in a bit less clothing…"

"Behave yourself!" Jessica pretended to get huffy. "We have to act like responsible adults for a few more hours, okay?"

"Do we have to? Sometimes it's a lot more fun to act like horny teenagers…" Aubrey quipped before quickly grabbing her breast while driving.

"James Aubrey!", Jessica laughed. "Be a good boy for a little while longer and then we can play when we get home."

"Okay, fine.", Aubrey sighed as he navigated the long winding driveway until they arrived at the old farmhouse. "Here we are…"

After parking the SUV and trailer, the couple walked up toward the house, opening the door with the key Aaron had lent them. Turning on the lights, Jessica squealed with happiness. "It's beautiful! They've redone so much...I love it!"

"Yeah, it's gonna be really nice when it's done. So which room was yours?"

"Upstairs...second door on the right."

Jogging up the stairs with Jessica hot on his heels, Aubrey opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh my…" He pinched his lips together to keep from laughing out loud. "Um...this furniture is rather...exuberant, isn't it? And there's a lot of it...I'm not sure it's all going to fit in our guestroom."

Pushing past him, Jessica shrugged. "Maybe it's a little overdone."

"A little?", Aubrey muttered, still in shock at the fancy decor. "That's like saying Darth Vader wasn't a very nice man…"

"Okay...maybe a lot." Jessica ran her fingers over the ornately carved French provincial headboard, which had been accented with an excessive amount of gold paint. "I got it for my thirteenth birthday."

Wrinkling his brow, Aubrey looked around the bedroom. "It doesn't really seem like your style, Jess…"

"I know….it's really gaudy, isn't it?" She sat down on a small boudoir chair sporting a fluffy pink cushion above its dainty curved legs. "My mom picked it out. I guess she'd always wanted a set like this when she was a little girl, so when it was time for me to get a new bedroom suite, she had this delivered to our home."

Gesturing around the room, Jessica smiled faintly. "It's not what I would've chosen, but it served the purpose, and after awhile I grew to love it. She got all the pieces...chest of drawers, dresser with mirror, night stand, and an armoire with hand painted floral panels. The only thing missing is the bed canopy, but the ceiling in here is too low for one. It's very well made from solid wood, and it was very expensive...she'd bought it at an Ethan Allen store, so I imagine she spent well over 5000 dollars for it."

"That's a lot of money for a kid's bedroom set!" Aubrey was shocked. "I can't imagine your dad was too happy."

"Actually, as I remember it, he didn't seem to mind too much. It was one of my mother's more logical purchases, and I needed the storage, seeing how the closets in this house are so small. Of course, I didn't use it very long before I went to college."

Opening one of the drawers in the dresser, Jessica laughed as she held up a piece of paper for Aubrey to see. "Oh wow, a note from my first real boyfriend was stuck in the back. I wonder how I managed to miss it...Jeremy was so cute…he's married with three kids, and he owns a cattle ranch in Wyoming now. I see him on social media every once in a while."

"Let me see that…" Aubrey snatched the page from her and sat down on the bed, reading in a sing song voice. "Dear Jessica...I think you're pretty and I really like you...do you like me? I think we should go out. Do you like movies?"

Jessica tried to grab the note from him, but he laughed as he held up where she couldn't reach it. "Aubrey, don't tear it up...I want to keep that…"

"Well, then, you're gonna have to get it from me...hey...no fair…", he groaned as she quickly straddled his lap. "What are you doing?"

She pushed his shoulders back onto the bed. "I'm trying to get my note back." Bending down, she nibbled his ear as she shifted her hips back and forth over his groin. "You don't really need it, do you? If you give it back to me, I'll give you something better…but, if not..."

"Wait…where are you going?", Aubrey protested as she moved off of his crotch and sprawled out next to him. "Get back on my lap…"

"My note?" She primly held out her hand.

"Oh, okay...here." He grunted softly as he handed her the page. "So...now...where were we?"

"Oh, trust me...I remember." Pushing the folded note into her pocket, Jessica undid the button of his jeans and slowly slid the zipper down, giggling as her boyfriend twisted his hips towards her. "It looks like someone's happy to see me." She giggled softly. "Hey, I know. We can pretend like we're high school kids who are supposed to be studying for our biology exam but we're having sex instead..."

"Oh my God, woman! Quit teasing me…" Propping himself up on his elbows, Aubrey glared at Jessica's naughty smirk as she ran her fingers under the waistband of his undershorts. "Well? What it gonna be?"

"Hmm...I don't know yet. After all, we are supposed to be studying." Lowering his boxers, she took his swollen member into her hand, gently caressing its length. "Shall I ride you or not…"

"JESSICA!"

Smiling wickedly, she bent down and took him into her mouth, gently at first, enjoying his satisfied sighs as she pleasured him. Soon he became frantic...he was grasping at the bedspread with his hands, thrusting his hips at her as she worked her magic. He was almost there…

"Jessie? Aubrey? Have you two figured out how to move the furniture downstairs yet?"

"Oh no! Aaron's downstairs!", a wide eyed Jessica gasped as she looked up at Aubrey. "What if he has someone with him? Quick...pull your pants up!"

"What?! SHIT!" Squirming out of from under her, Aubrey groaned in pain as he pulled his boxers and jeans back up where they belonged. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, the couple quickly tried to smooth the bedspread before their activities were discovered.

Soon Aaron stood in the doorway, trying not to laugh as Jessica's disheveled hair and Aubrey's guilty face as they pretended that nothing had happened. "So what's going on?", he asked with a knowing grin.

"Oh, you know…" Aubrey held one of the pillows over his crotch as he pointed to the armoire. "Just trying to figure out how to make everything fit onto the trailer…"

"Okay." Aaron chuckled as he winked at his sister. "I've brought a couple of neighbors to help load this stuff up...we'd better get started or we'll be here all night…" He barely held back a laugh as he smirked at Aubrey. "...and I'm sure you two wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No...no we don't want that.", Aubrey admitted, reciting baseball statistics as he reluctantly got up to help with the furniture.

############

It was late when Jessica and Aubrey finally got home. Because they both had to work the next day, it was decided that they'd store the furniture laden trailer in the garage, where it could stay until the weekend.

Chuckling softly, Jessica grinned at Aubrey as she unlocked the front door. "Sorry we got interrupted...I guess I'll just have to make it up to you later…"

"Damn right you will." Aubrey followed her into the house, where they were greeted by a starving cat. Reaching down to scratch Skinner's ears, the agent walked into the kitchen. "Tell you what...I'll feed the cat and put the ham away. Why don't you go run us a bath, okay? That way we can get dirty and clean at the same time."

"You're so clever. See you in a few minutes." Jessica gave him a kiss and smacked his posterior before heading upstairs.

After putting the ham in a container and finding a place for it in the refrigerator, Aubrey poured some kibbles into Skinner's bowl and set it on the floor. "I tell you what, buddy…" he began as he watched the cat gobble his food. "You sure missed an adventure. I went through a lot to get that furniture over here...and I'm not sure I even like it. I mean, I guess the set was expensive, but it's kind of princessy…kind of like a little girl would have…"

He paused as a memory flashed through his mind. "...kind of like the furniture Warden Brinton had in his daughter's bedroom. Wait, how could a prison warden afford such expensive furniture? I mean, his wife is Andrea Clark's cousin, but still...it must've cost thousands of dollars...although, I guess he could have made payments...but an expensive bedroom like that on his salary? No way...unless he took a bribe of some sort…"

He pulled out his phone and sent himself a memo to check out his suspicions. "Right now, however...I have better things to do. No more acting like a responsible adult tonight."

After giving Skinner one more pet, Aubrey turned off the lights and checked the locked before stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "Jessica? Is the bathwater ready?"

"Yes...I've turned on the jets, too…just like you like it. Hurry up. I'm getting lonely in here."

"Oh yeah...a hot bath, and a nude girlfriend...just the way I like it." Chuckling to himself, Aubrey moved up the stairs quickly, taking two steps at a time. Pulling off his clothes as soon as he entered the bedroom, he wore a sly grin as he joined Jessica in the tub. "Now...where were we? Oh yes...I remember...you were about to make me a very happy man."

Reaching down to rub his butt, Jessica smiled. "I thought you were tired of being a grown man."

Giving her a wink, he pulled her closer. "I've changed my mind. C'mere…"

Oooooooooo

It was 9AM on Friday morning as Hunter entered the third floor conference room at the SEC's headquarters. As he set up his laptop, he gave himself a quick pep talk. He could do this...as a supervisory agent, he could deal decisively with the person who'd been leaking sensitive information about their Maxco investigation. That sort of security breach meant that not only would the perpetrator lose their job, they'd also lose their CPA license and possibly face criminal charges.

"I hope it was worth it…because their career is in the toilet.", he muttered to himself. Thinking back on all his years in college and the time spent studying to pass his CPA exam, it amazed him that someone would be willing to forfeit all of that effort for some quick cash, but who knew what this person was thinking. That's what he and Mendez were hoping to find out.

"Hey, Hunter." Agent Mendez nodded as he entered the room. "So you've read my report, right? I think It's pretty straight forward. It went down just the way we planned it. I told her that I'd be out to interview Maxco's lead accountant at 2:30 last Thursday...that it was supposed to be a surprise, and sure enough, the guy called me on Wednesday to tell me not to bother coming...that he had a dentist's appointment. Funny thing...when I called the dentist's office to confirm, the guy had been in for a routine check up two weeks ago, and they didn't have any record of another appointment for him, either."

"So you think she called and warned him? Wow...why would she do that?" Hunter was shocked.

Mendez chuckled softly as he shook his head. Of course Hunter wouldn't understand. The man was so honest it hurt sometimes. "Let's just say she had about 30,000 reasons."

"30,000 dollars? Seriously?"

"Yeah...I got a warrant to check her bank records yesterday. The money has been deposited in her account on a regular basis...five thousand dollars on the first of the month for the past six months." Seeing Hunter's surprise, Mendez laughed softly. "Come on...you know that's chump change for a company like Maxco…"

"Excuse me, Agent Geren. You asked to see me?" A young woman stood in the doorway, nervously twisting a strand of dark hair around her finger.

Time for my game face. Pointing to a chair, Hunter spoke brusquely. "Come in and sit down, Ms. Rivera. We have a lot to discuss."

He sat at the head of the table, silently typing on his keyboard before turning the screen so she could see it. "Agent Mendez here has told me a very interesting story. It seems he told you about a surprise visit he was going to pay to an employee of Maxco Enterprises, and surprisingly enough, the man in question called to say he wouldn't be available to keep the appointment. My question is this...how would he know about that visit if you hadn't tipped him off?"

"I have no idea." Averting her eyes, the woman shrugged. "Maybe it was a lucky guess on his part. There's any number of ways the guy could've found out."

"Really?" Hunter sat back in his chair, and smiled faintly. "Name one."

"Maybe someone else overheard Jose's conversation with me and called him. You can't prove it was me…"

"Ah, but I can, Helen." Leaning forward, Jose pressed his fingertips together as he explained. "I told all of the accountants in your department that I was going to make a surprise visit to Maxco, but you were the only one who was told that it would at 2:30 on last Thursday afternoon. There was no one else around. Too bad the guy in question is an idiot...he called to cancel the appointment I was supposedly going to have with him. I guess you forgot to tell him not to do that."

Going to a different tab on his computer, Hunter pulled up some more information on the monitor. "Here are your phone records for the last 8 weeks...and yes, we had a warrant to access this information. Look at all of the calls to this number. Do you happen to know who's number this is, Ms. Rivera?" Seeing the woman's blank stare, Hunter nodded. "It belongs to Craig Stephenson, the CFO of Maxco. It seems you've been calling him frequently. I suspect you've been giving him confidential information about our investigation into his business practices for quite awhile now."

"And here are your bank statements for the last six months, also obtained with a warrant." Mendez pushed some papers towards Ms. Rivera. "There have been several large deposits made into your account over that same period of time."

"That's circumstantial...you can't prove where that money came from. I got it because I've made some investments." Ms. Rivera glared defiantly at the men in front of her. "I didn't do anything really wrong...I was just helping out a friend...you've got nothing on me."

"Oh, but you did do something wrong, Ms. Rivera...something very wrong." Hunter drummed his fingers on the table for a few minutes before asking his next question. "Tell me...how did you meet Mr. Stephenson? It seems unlikely that you'd be contacted at random by some CFO out of the blue, and yet you seem to have quite the relationship going."

"I applied for a job there several weeks ago." Ms. Rivera was unrepentant as she glowered at Hunter. "The pay here stinks, even with me being a CPA, and working for the government means jumping through all sorts of hoops. I feel like I'm constantly being watched when I do my work. Anyway, Mr. Stephenson hangs around the rink where my curling league plays every Wednesday, and he complimented me on my performance, and asked me all sorts of questions, like how long I've played and stuff like that. He seemed really interested in what I was doing for some reason, which made me curious, so I did some research and found out that he and I both went to Washington and Lee, and I thought that might give me a better chance of getting a job there. I sent my resume directly to him via email, and, to my surprise, he emailed back me personally, and after letting me know that there would possibly be an opening in his accounting department later this year, he asked if I'd be willing to do a part time job for him until the position became available.."

"A part time job?" Mendez laughed sarcastically. "You mean spying, don't you? As far as I'm concerned, this is a form of corporate espionage."

Holding up his hand to interrupt his colleague, Hunter continued his questioning. "So he gave you a lot of money...and probably stock options...as payment for this 'service' which you provided? You'd just pass along any information you heard here at the SEC about his company, and it never occurred to you that it might be illegal to do so? That's pretty stupid on your part, don't you think?"

"I have nothing more to say." Helen stared at the table in front of her. "You're wasting your time asking me all these questions, because all you have is circumstantial evidence."

"Well, at the very least, your decision to help your 'friend' in this fashion shows extremely poor judgment, and if your investments are garnering you several thousands of dollars every month, that points to a possible conflict of interest. The SEC takes a very dim view of insider trading, as you know, Ms. Rivera." Closing his laptop, Hunter regarded her with a stern expression. "Your employment with this organization has been terminated, effective immediately. You may, of course, file a grievance if you think this action was unwarranted. I've already contacted the AIPCA regarding your actions here, as well as the DC Board of Accountancy, recommending that you lose your CPA accreditation."

Seeing Helen's shock, he arched an eyebrow at her. "I'd also recommend that you find a good lawyer, because Agent Mendez and I will be turning this information over to the FBI. In my experience the agents there don't like it when someone obstructs one of their investigations, especially when that obstruction leads to offers of bribes and threats of physical violence. I'm confident you'll be hearing from them soon."

Rising from his seat, Hunter glared down at the young woman. "Agent Mendez will escort you to your workstation so you can retrieve your belongings. You need to be off these premises in one hour."

As Hunter watched Jose follow Ms. Rivera out of the room, he made a quick phone call. "Aubrey? Yeah, it's Hunter. The leak has been plugged. I'll send you the information shortly. Her name is Helen Rivera and she met Stephenson while she was curling...yeah, I think you're gonna want to talk to her about what's going on at Maxco."

Oooooooooo

Friday was a quiet day at the FBI, much to Aubrey's relief. He and Jessica hadn't gotten to bed until after midnight and both had full schedules the next morning. 'But getting dirty and clean at the same time was a lot of fun…I think that needs to be a weekly ritual...'

Unable to stop himself, he looked at the email he'd received from Booth an hour ago:

Turned in the final proposal for UC assignment to Stark this morning. I'll keep you informed.

"This is going to be a long day…", Aubrey said to himself. "I need another doughnut."

Walking down to the breakroom, he found one last long john in the box. "Can't let this baby go to waste." He was about to take a bite when his phone rang. "Aubrey...yeah, Hunter, what's up? You got the leak taken care of? And you'll send us the paperwork? Great. I'll let Booth know...yeah, send us what you have on that Rivera lady. I can give it to Genny to investigate or another one of our agents...we can probably have a warrant issued for her arrest later today on charges of obstruction and anything else Caroline can come up with...yeah, we're going to start cleaning house over there, that's for sure. Thanks for the heads up, Hunter. Bye."

Grinning to himself as he licked the maple icing from his fingers, he washed his hands before sending Booth a text. "One less thing to worry about with the leak taken care of. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah...doughnut time…"

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

After going over Booth and Aubrey's summation of the most recent information he'd been given about the Vacchio case, Deputy Director Stark called Booth into his office that afternoon. When the initial pleasantries had passed, the director pushed a file towards the agent and sat back in his chair, studying him intently. "You just can't let it go, can you?"

"No, I guess not." Unsure of Stark's insinuation, Booth picked up the folder and glanced through it before tossing it back on the desk. "You see...me and Aubrey have always had problems with the way this case played out, you know?"

Sensing the director's impatience, he quickly continued. "We know Vinnie Sipoletti shot and killed Louis Vacchio, but we were never 100 percent sure why. It was a loose end in the investigation, and I hate loose ends. I also know that aspect of the case is closed, according to the FBI, but it seems to me, and to Aubrey, too, that there must've been something else going on...that Vacchio's murder was just the tip of a giant iceberg. Nobody could ever really offer a motive for the murder, and since Sipoletti died soon after…we don't have one. It kinda bugs me, not knowing if we've gotten everything cleaned up with the case. There could be a lot of nastiness left to be uncovered, but with the case being closed...we can't dig any further." He shrugged, realizing he was probably wasting his time. "I understand that we're asking for a lot of leeway here…"

"So you think that the fella from the SEC has figured out the motive, right?" Stark grimaced slightly, shaking his head at Booth. "The guy is a goddamned number cruncher. What does he know about investigating crimes?", he asked sarcastically. "I think maybe he's read too many of Dr. Brennan's novels…"

"Here's the thing.", Booth began, irritated by Stark's snarky attitude. "Hunter Geren is a real sharp guy...not some fanatical amateur sleuth. He's done extensive research and all of the necessary legwork on the case, and he deserves to be heard. As for his being an inexperienced investigator...it's well established that he's an exceptional forensic accountant. His reputation for solving criminal cases for the SEC is impeccable...and he's married to an FBI agent. Hell, he even got shot when he went with his wife to question a suspect, okay? He's not going to pursue something like this without a good amount of probable cause, and he'll give us something we can take to court. I trust him...he knows what he's doing."

Somewhat satisfied with Booth's explanation, Stark rose from his chair and walked over to his office window, gazing out at the street below. "You know, it's not just your stones on the line, Booth...you and Aubrey have a lot to lose if this thing doesn't work like you want it to...and so do I. If you undertake this undercover job, and it falls through...there's gonna be hell to pay. It'll be all over the news, about how the FBI has been harassing a group of law abiding citizens. That's something we don't need right now with our new administration looking to blame us for everything."

He turned to look at Booth. "But you're right. The Vacchio case was wrapped up a little too neatly in my book. There are too many peripheral issues that were left hanging." Clearing his throat, he walked back to his desk and sat on the corner. "I'm going to okay this operation on your say so, Booth. I hope you know what you're doing." Signing a form inside the folder, he handed it to the agent. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Rising from his chair, Booth nodded to the director before leaving the office. Puffing out a relieved sigh in the corridor, he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. "Aubrey? It's on…'

"Stark gave us the go ahead? Great. I'll call Hunter and we can get together Monday to finalize our plans."

"Good. So...um...about Shaw." Booth cleared his throat slightly before continuing. "Are you sure she wants to do this undercover gig? I mean, she has a kid, and she hasn't been feeling well…"

"I'm pretty sure she's set on going. I guess she and Jessica are gonna get together so they can brush up on her curling." Aubrey chuckled at Booth's frustrated sigh. "Look, if you think you can convince her that she shouldn't go undercover, be my guest, but I don't think she's gonna buy it."

"You're probably right. I know Bones always wanted to make her own decisions about shit like that, and Shaw is almost as stubborn."

"True. Look, Booth...I think they'll only be there a day or two and then we'll have what we need. No big deal."

"I hope so. Okay, talk to you later."

"Later." As he put his phone in his pocket, Aubrey shook his head. He was definitely glad he didn't have to worry about Jessica going undercover. It was bad enough that the work she did with Dr. Brennan was dirty and nasty, and they did sometimes go to some remote places, but still...in the long run, Jessica would be a lot safer working in a forensics lab.

"Yeah...right. Like I have any say so about where she works." Smiling to himself, he pulled up a picture of her on his phone. "But I know one thing...no matter where it is, she needs to be careful and stay safe."

Suddenly his stomach flipped a little as memories flooded his brain...memories of finding Jessica, bloodied and beaten, at the bottom of the stairs in the Jeffersonian bone storage room.

Okay...so no place is perfectly safe...but... I'm going to do my best to make sure nothing bad ever happens to her again.

"