(After 'The Beginning in the End')

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Their week in the woods had not been as relaxing as Booth had hoped it would be. The only one that had fun that week was Parker. Max was tense whenever they were outside and Brennan's senses were heightened. Booth was constantly looking over his shoulder and when they were swimming in the lake, he stayed near the boy while Max patrolled the shore.

Once they were back home, Brennan felt drained. "I need a vacation from our vacation."

Sympathetic, Booth pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry that our vacation was such a mess." He hugged her and felt her relax in his arms. "I blame Danny for this. First, he says not to worry about anything and then he arranges to have Parker guarded. This is crazy." He kissed her then gave her an encouraging smile. "I have a plan . . . I think we need to take matters in to our own hands. I'm going to see if I can track down Bud Carson and I'm going to find out who he's working for. I left it to Danny, but I haven't heard anything from him. I'm done waiting."

"I think that would be wise." Brennan moved over to where their luggage lay on their bed and began to unpack. "Danny may have motives we don't understand and his priorities may not match ours."

His mind racing, Booth thought about what he could do to track down Bud Carson. "I'm going to contact the detective Rebecca hired . . . Harry White. He might be able to help me." Booth picked up the bag of dirty clothes. "I'm going to be as quiet and as unobtrusive as possible while I look for Bud Carson. I don't want whoever he's working for to get wind of what's going on."

"I concur." Brennan carried some shorts and t-shirts over to Booth's dresser. "I think if we can find out who tried to kidnap Parker we will find out what is going on . . . or at least I hope so."

"I'm not going to send Parker home yet. I think he's safer here with Max and Tom guarding him." Booth stepped over to the doorway. "I think I'll get Harris to check with the city and see if there are any traffic cameras near Parker's former school. I might be able to prove Carson was in the area if I have some pictures to prove it."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Special Agent Morris Harris looked at his supervisor and friend before knocking on the front door of Bud Carson's house. "If you're going to lose your temper stay out here."

Annoyed, Booth reached around Harris and knocked on the door. "I'm not going to kill him."

After a few seconds, the door opened and a rather average looking man with salt and pepper hair and a feathered mustache appeared. "What do you want?"

Booth held up his FBI badge and ID and showed it to Carson. Harris did the same. "Carson . . . Bud Carson?"

"Yeah." Calmly, Carson looked at each man and thought he knew what was going on, not that he would make it easy for them. "What do you want?"

Surprisingly in control, Booth placed his ID in this jacket pocket. "May we come in? We have a few questions we would like to ask you."

"No, you may not." The older man didn't like this situation at all, but this wasn't his game to play. "What do you want?"

Harris shrugged his shoulders and held up a picture of Bud Carson's car. "This is your car. It was spotted near the Granger Academy on April 26th." He held up another picture. "This was taken a few minutes later showing you enter the parking lot of Granger Academy. It was taken by an exterior camera on the apartment building across the street. They keep their recordings for six months for insurance purposes." He held up a third picture. "This is you near the front entrance to the school . . . We showed your picture to the office manager of Granger Academy and at first, she denied ever seeing you, but of course she had to have, hadn't she? She's the wife of your cousin Barton Case." Harris smirked at the way Carson lost the color in his face. "I bet you thought that was a lucky break and I guess it was since she didn't give you away until she had to . . . For a former police officer, you aren't very smart, are you?"

Glumly, Carson shook his head. "Smart? . . . Maybe not. Kerry Blakely needed someone to do his dirty work and he found me to do it. My wife is . . . was dying of brain cancer and I needed the money to get her into a good hospice and to pay our hospital bills. Our insurance wouldn't cover everything and they were willing to let her die in the hospital . . . God knows why he thought I'd do it, but he was right, I was desperate to make Erica's last days comfortable and I took the job."

Booth couldn't remain silent any further. "He paid you to try to kidnap the boy Parker Booth?"

Caron nodded his head. "I don't have anything to lose by admitting it. My wife died four days after I tried to do the job. The money allowed me to move her into a hospice and it made her transition to heaven easier. Blakley paid for that up front as a down payment for the job. I was going to try again, but the boy's father took him on vacation and when he came back his mother moved him and her to England. Ms. Stinson removed herself from the Simmons case and Blakely called the whole thing off. He didn't pay me the rest of the money he promised, but my wife died in peace and in comfort and that's all that really mattered to me. I expected someone to track me down earlier. I didn't think I'd be free this long. So not smart, just lucky."

His anger barely under control, Booth reached up, grabbed the front of Carson's shirt and yanked him down the step. Placing cuffs on the man, he read the former policeman his rights. "Parker is my son, you stupid son of a bitch."

Wisely, Harris pulled the would be kidnapper from Booth's grasp. "Mr. Carson, you are under arrest for the attempted kidnapping of a minor. You moved across state lines to do it which gives the FBI jurisdiction."

His anger barely under control, Booth stalked over to the SUV, leaned against it and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. While Harris put Carson in the back seat of the SUV, Booth called Brennan. "We got Carson and it had to do with the Simmons case after all. This had nothing to do with Abbot or Asshole in Homeland Security."

Well, I was wrong then. That's actually a good thing. That means that no one is interested in kidnapping or killing Parker at this moment. The Simmons case ended last week and Rebecca has nothing to do with the case anymore.

"Yeah, that's true." Booth should feel relieved, but he was still worried. "We still don't know what Abbot was up to, but at least Parker is safe."

Rebecca will be relieved when she finds this out. Tom Jones will be able to return to work and stop guarding Parker and Danny can now focus on Abbot and Asshole.

It always sounded weird when Brennan used curse words. She was so smart she could insult you using dollar words and her victims didn't always know they had been insulted. "I guess we can keep Parker here for the rest of his vacation. I think Max should stick around though. I'll feel better knowing my son is being watched by someone that knows how to handle rough situations. You know . . . just in case."

Alright. I'll see you when you get home tonight. I think we should have pizza for dinner.

"Now that sounds like a great idea. I love you . . . oh, you're getting a meat pizza for me, aren't you? Not just vegetables and mushrooms like the last time?"

I love you too.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Danny held his hands up as if to ward off Booth. "Hey, my friend actually works for a living and he had to leave the country for a few weeks. He was going to track down Bud Carson when he got back. That's why I had Tom helping you out. Parker was safe."

Annoyed, Booth glared at the glass of beer sitting on the table in front of him. "This had nothing to do with Abbot. This was the Simmons case all along."

"I get it . . . okay, I get it." Danny thought Booth wasn't seeing the bright side. "But this means that whatever is going on with Abbot and our special person of interest had nothing to do with Parker. It just looks like they're interested in you and Dr. Brennan. That's a good thing and it may mean that I'm also right about this not being anything dangerous. This might be political. Abbot has been making noise about running for Senator Woolfolk's seat next year. Maybe he wants to run as the cut taxes and save a shit load of money candidate . . . who knows. We're still watching our special person of interest, so you don't need to worry about that. We still have the mystery of a murdered federal employee on our hands and his murderer has not been brought to justice. We aren't going to give up on that. No way."

Slightly mollified, Booth nodded his head. "My son is going back home in a couple of weeks. Max is going to escort him home. I'll feel better when he's safely out of the country."

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Danny sipped some of his beer. "For right now, stop worrying about the crap that's been going on. You and Dr. Brennan have no connection to the dead Federal employee and the only reason we were a little worried was because Abbot tried to separate you two professionally using the Home Land Security man to do it. Let's just take a wait and see attitude for the moment . . . my people have got this Booth. We're on it."

Booth didn't know if he felt comfortable about that. Danny and his friend hadn't seemed to be in a hurry to go after Bud Carson. "If anyone screws with Bones or me they're going to get a hell of a surprise."

"Yeah, I know. Believe me."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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