(The Drama in the Queen)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Feeling a little reckless, Pete had hacked into the CIA database trying to look for international connections with the names he had dug up connected to the McNamara Corporation. He had a list of congressmen, one senator, several DAs, five judges, some state representatives, a few FBI agents and four Homeland Security people that had received infusions of cash into their savings accounts from some shell companies set up by the McNamara Corporation. These people were being paid to do something and Pete wanted to know what it was. He didn't want to believe that Wayne Kitchen's blackmailer was an American and he'd tried to see if these people were connected to countries that were hostile to the United States.

Once he'd worked his way through the CIA database, he knew he'd been wrong. As far as he could tell, none of these people were connected to any government agencies outside the country. Whoever was pulling the strings had to be in the United States and that made Pete feel sick. Was his country being taken over by a secret organization and no one knew it? Anything was possible, but it seemed that a lot of politicians and people in law enforcement were being manipulated and Pete wanted to know why. He might be a retired conman, but he considered himself to be a patriot and he loved his country. He'd served six years in the Air Force right out of high school and he still felt a comradeship with those who served. There was no way he was going to stand by and let someone try to attempt a coup and get away with it.

As soon as he could, Pete sent Angela the information he had dug up. The list of people on the take was getting bigger and more dangerous. He needed to make sure that someone else knew what was going on besides him. He needed Temperance Brennan, her husband and her co-workers to know what was going on. By investigating Gale Storm's murder and proving that Wayne Kitchen had committed an act of treason, they were all in danger and the only way they would survive was to find out who was behind this whole thing. Everyone was calling the mystery person 'The blackmailer', but Pete had started calling him 'The Traitor'. Whoever this person was, he controlled a lot of powerful men and women and he'd been responsible for the deaths of some fine people. If Pete could find out who this person was, he would not hesitate to kill him or her. Pete was afraid that whoever the traitor was had too many judges in his pocket to ever go to trial for treason and murder.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

"The balls on this guy." Bing Taylor leaned back against his chair and laughed. "I mean, really? The guy wades into our databases and just looks around like he's some keyboard ninja and then leaves without saying hello? I'm impressed . . . pissed but impressed." Danny's boss had warned the IT department to be on the lookout for a rogue hacker and sure enough the man had finally made his move and hacked the CIA database. "We almost didn't notice what he was doing. Jim Benson noticed something odd was going on and he figured it out. Jim tracked the hacker down and that wasn't the easiest thing to do. The hacker used a string of proxies around the damn world. Jim thought he had him a few times until he found out that the server he thought was the originator was just a red herring . . . anyway, I'm not really smart enough to know what Jim did to figure it out, but our Hacker is Peter Jackson. We know who he is and where he lives. I've sent someone over to babysit the man. Discreetly of course. I don't want Peter to run away. I need him right where he is doing what he's doing. I figure our traitor would strangle the man if he could, so we need to keep Peter alive. He's Angela Montenegro's ally and we won't interfere with that. We need everyone we can to look for Wayne Kitchen's blackmailer. Whoever it is, is more dangerous than we thought . . . Frankly, I'm afraid. I don't know what he's up to, but he has a lot of powerful men beholden to him. I'm sure Angela's list isn't complete either."

Rubbing his forehead, Danny closed his eyes for a few seconds. "And your ally at the Department of Homeland Security says that the interest in Booth and his squints hasn't gone away?"

"No, it hasn't. If anything, it's starting to sound urgent." Bing didn't care if Danny knew Carla Jackson's first name. He had to call her something. "Carla says one of the four people she's keeping tabs on in her department has contacted Congressman Efran Hadley three times. It looks like the Director of the FBI is considering a promotion for Booth to run their operations in Germany and Congressman Hadley has shown a keen interest. I'm not sure why Carla's suspect contacted Congressman Hadley, but it can't be good. I need a list of the people that Angela found that were on the take to the McNamara Corporation. Maybe you can get the list from Booth or sweet talk it from Ms. Montenegro, but we need to know who we're dealing with . . . It just seems like things are starting to pick up speed and that worries me. We're all on a train and we don't know where it's taking us . . . You need to warn Booth and Tom that there is a lot of interest in Booth right now and not just from the good guys."

"I'll talk to Booth. As far as I know, me trying to sweet talk to Angela could get me a knee in my balls. She doesn't play games like that." Danny chuckled. "She's smart and she's been in the business long enough to know not to trust anyone outside her group. They've had a lot of shit happen at that Lab including a murdered intern right in the middle of the Lab. No, if I talk to Angela it will up front and as honest as I can be."

A little impatient, Bing pulled some folders across the desk and opened them. "We've been letting Booth handle this for too long. We need in. We need to help with what's going on. Talk to him, warn him and get that list of people that McNamara bought. If Booth and Angela doesn't want to play then we may have to lean on Peter Jackson. I don't want to do that, but I will if I have to."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Leaning against the doorway, Danny studied Booth for a few seconds. The man appeared to be worried about something and Danny thought that was a good thing. "Seeley, we need to talk."

Busy with more work than he had time to spare, Booth looked up and glared at his friend. "I'm busy Danny."

"I can see that, but this is important." Moving into the room, the CIA Agent closed the door behind him. "It could be a matter of life and death." He knew he sounded melodramatic, but Danny needed Booth to listen to him. "I know you're being offered a promotion in Germany and that's great, you deserve it, but something's going on that you need to be aware of."

Resigned, Booth pointed at the chair in front of his desk. "Alright, what's up?"

"My Boss has a contact at Homeland Security and she's been keeping track of four suspected traitors in her department. They had links to Wayne Kitchen, but there wasn't any proof that they were involved in what Kitchen was doing. Still, our contact doesn't trust them and she's been keeping tabs of them . . . Anyway, one of them is an idiot and he's been using his company's email server to email people he probably shouldn't. He's contacted Congressman Efran Hedley three times this week. He's arranged to meet the man at various places around town. My boss was told that Congressman Hedley is supposed to sponsor you when you have your meetings with Congress about your promotion. I think they're going to be televised on CSPAN." The more Danny talked the more alert Booth seemed to be. He knew the man was listening. "We think Wayne Kitchen's blackmailer is going after you. We don' know how, but he's going to use Congressman Hedley to do it."

Concerned, Booth slowly blew out his breath and wondered why he could never do anything and not invite drama in the process. "I had to take some tests and I've had some meetings with Stark, the Director and one with the Congressman. This promotion is a big deal, Danny." He paused, glanced at the picture of Brennan and his kids on his desk and shook his head. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"To be truthful? I haven't got a clue." Danny leaned forward on his chair. "Look, you saw what happened to William King and Congressman Abbott. The blackmailer got rid of them. We don't think he'll actually have you killed, at least not yet, but he might try to ruin your reputation and then have you killed. It would make sense. Destroy your reputation somehow then once you're considered scum have you murdered. No one would care then. My boss and I have thought about it and we think you're a target now. If you're taken out then that would shut down the investigation being done by your team. The blackmailer is going to make an example of you."

"How would they ruin my reputation?" This conversation was starting to make Booth angry. "My military record is clean and so is my record at the FBI . . . I don't know what anyone can do to me."

Danny hoped Booth really wasn't that naive. "Come on Booth. You were a sniper for the Army and you did odd jobs for the CIA. Think about it."

"My Army records are sealed." Booth was confident that the Pentagon would never release his records to anyone.

"Gee Booth, let me think . . . Angela and her hacker have come up with the names of several powerful people in our government who are on the take from the McNamara Corporation. The McNamara Corporation has links to the Blackmailer. The Blackmailer has had people killed including a Congressman and the owner of an influential corporation. Why would he stop and not go after an FBI Agent?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and he hoped that Booth could hear it. "Get real. Why not go after you? You uncovered Robert Kirby's operation in the FBI. You exposed a Deputy Director at The Department of Homeland Security as the treasonous bastard that he is. You proved a Congressman was connected to Kirby and that man is now dead. Another Congressman died during your investigation of a killer that you proved killed a serial killer who was the daughter of the owner of the McNamara Corporation . . . You know if I tried to write a story about this no one would publish it. They'd tell me it was unbelievable garbage."

Snorting, Booth leaned back against his chair. "Tell me about it . . . You think I should turn down the promotion?"

"I don't know." Danny ran his hand through his short hair. "Maybe you should. It looks like you're being set up and I think ultimately they're going to try to kill you. The blackmailer really can't afford to let you live anymore. You and your people are exposing people under his control and he might be afraid that he's next."

He knew he'd have to think about this, but he didn't have a lot of time to do it. "If they go after me then Bones and Christine could be in danger. Whoever is behind this wouldn't care if my family was killed or not, they'd just be collateral damage . . . I need to talk to Angela about Congressman Hadley. I need to know if she's had any luck connecting the people on her list to someone powerful enough to pull strings like this . . . How does someone get enough power to control this many people and people that have power of their own? We need answers. I need answers."

Danny thought this might be a good time to talk about that list. "Look, how about you share the names of those people that Angela has uncovered so far. I could get people to help her. We need to catch this guy and we need to do it soon."

Slowly nodding his head, Booth agreed that Danny was right. "I'll talk to Angela this afternoon. I'll get her to bring you in and tell you what we know. If this blows up and they take me out, I need you or someone like you to protect Bones and the rest of the squints."

"You believe me?" Relieved Danny sat back against his chair. He had been afraid that Booth would still try to handle everything through the FBI.

"Yeah, I believe you." Booth shook his head. "I'm going to talk to Stark this afternoon. I wasn't sure I wanted the promotion to Germany when it was first offered. It looked like a good deal, but I was worried that they might try to make me a sniper again. Stark told me that wasn't part of the deal, but I've had my doubts. I've had a lot of doubts . . . Maybe I should have listened to my gut . . . I should have known that something was up."

Standing, Danny leaned on Booth's desk. "Hey, the promotion offer was real, Booth. The Director of the FBI sees great things in you, you have to see that. Hell, as far as we know he's not part of the Blackmailer's band of merry men. His offer was legit . . . It's just that your promotion is going to be used against you. The bad guys can't let you get any more power in the FBI. They know that you'll be harder to bring down later if you move further up the chain of command. Maybe once we find out who the blackmailer is and we bring him down, maybe the Director will see that you're ripe for another promotion but not in Germany doing some crazy shit. He'll see that you're more valuable here."

"Maybe." Booth felt that if he turned down this promotion there may never be another one, but he had to think of Brennan and his family. He had to think about Cam and the squints. There was more at stake than an ego boost for him.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. I appreciate it.