(After 'The Recluse in the Recliner')

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

Appalled, Max stood in the living room of his daughter's house and stared at the damage to the walls, floor and furniture. "Honey, what are you going to do? This is . . . this is . . . I don't know what to say." Rubbing the back of his neck, Max was glad that the blood on the carpets and bare wood floor didn't belong to his daughter or Booth, but this should have never happened. "What are you going to do?"

"I've already called a general contractor. Her company will begin fixing the damage tomorrow morning." Brennan felt bad that some of her antiquities had been destroyed, but she would not mourn for things. Her husband was alive and that was all that mattered in the end. "The carpet will be replaced, the holes in the walls, ceiling and floors will be filled in . . . a new coat of paint, the furniture will be replaced and the picture window will be repaired. I need to collect the antiquities that were damaged, box them up and take them to the Jeffersonian. Even if they can't be repaired the pieces must be saved."

Admiring how calm his daughter was, Max crossed his arms against his chest and stared at a stuffed doll lying on the damaged couch. The doll had blood on it and it made him sad that Christine was going to lose one of her favorite dolls. Currently his granddaughter was at the Jeffersonian being watched by Angela and it was his plan to pick her up to watch over her for the rest of the day at his place. "Where are you staying? You can't stay here. I can't see how this mess wouldn't upset Christine."

"For the time being, we're staying in a hotel. I can afford it." Brennan sighed. "I don't want to disrupt anyone else's household. We should be back into this house in two weeks. I'm paying the contractor for expedited service . . . Jared offered to allow us to stay with him and Padme, but his apartment is small and Booth can't sleep on a couch or the floor for two weeks. His back wouldn't tolerate that kind of abuse and there is also the lack of privacy . . . The hotel will suffice. Once we are back here, I would like you to move in with us. I need you here to guard Christine until we catch whoever is behind this attack . . . I appreciate that you volunteered to guard her during the day."

"Not a problem . . . I'm glad that Booth's friends were here to help him when those guys attacked him." Max had heard the official explanation on the news but he had his doubts. He had a lot of doubts. "So, Booth's friends just happened to be here watching a game and you happened to be out with Christine?"

Carrying an empty box over to the bookshelf near the fireplace, Brennan began packing her antiquities. She was going to place them in the garage until the work was complete to keep them out of harm's way. "No, Danny was warned that Booth was going to be the target of an assassination attempt and he and some of his agents came here to prevent Booth from being killed. We think it's connected to the Wayne Kitchen case."

Since Max was kept in the loop by Pete Jackson about what was going on in his daughter's professional life, he knew exactly what Brennan was talking about. "I guess Kitchen's blackmailer is trying to stop you guys from finding out who he is."

"Yes." Brennan didn't know how her father always knew what was going on, but he was amazing as far as she was concerned. She'd told him about some of the things they were investigating since Gale Storm had been killed and Wayne Kitchen had been found to be behind it, but her father always seemed to know about things that neither she nor Booth had told him. She didn't know who his source was, but whoever it was, he or she was determined to keep Max completely informed. "I believe so."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Danny Beck had recovered enough from his gunshot wound to return to work. Using some connections in Somalia, he'd found out what the three former Rangers who had invaded Booth's home had done in that country to warrant King's Company firing them. Disgusted, Danny sat in Booth's office with the door closed and a cup of coffee in his hand. "They were supposed to be protecting a businessman who was in Somalia trying to drum up business for his company. Dale Banks works for a water reclamation company. They do business in various African countries, Europe and in Asia. Banks worried about his family and employees and he'd contracted with King's Company for some protection. Banks claimed that he'd been threatened by some thugs who wanted him to pay them to keep his family safe from criminals . . . sort of a protection racket."

A little impatient, Booth leaned back against his chair and glared at his friend while Danny took his time telling him about the men who had attacked him.

Aware that Booth was growing impatient, Danny shrugged his shoulders. "The mercenaries assigned to watch over Dale Banks and his family were the scum that attacked us in your house, no doubt about it." His injured hand aching, Danny was trying to keep from taking pain pills and so far, he'd been successful. His hand was mending, but it still ached especially if he tried to use his fingers on that hand for anything. "They attacked two young women who worked for Banks and raped and beat them. When the young ladies confronted their attackers in front of Banks the men denied they'd done anything, but the two ladies disappeared shortly afterward and a few days later their bodies were found. All three men denied they'd killed the young ladies, but Banks freaked out and fired Kings Company. The men fled the country before they could be arrested for murder. Right after that Kings Company fired the scum. We need to track down who they worked for next. I have someone working on that."

"Alright." Booth sat staring at the baseball on his desk and contemplated their next move. "Give Angela this information. If anyone can figure out their movements after they left Kings Company she can."

"Already done. I drove by the Lab this morning and gave her a copy of what I have on a USB drive." His coffee finished, Danny stood up, dropped the empty cup in the trash can near Booth's desk and sat back down. "Those guys were scum and I'm damned glad that they're dead."

In agreement, Booth nodded his head. "I'm hoping their history leads us to the blackmailer . . . Adam Butler came my office yesterday . . . wanted me to know that he'd been given information and some documents about Congressman Palter's death from an informant that made it appear that I'd actually killed Palter instead of Kessler and that he was mortified . . . oh and horrified and embarrassed that he'd not seen that the documents were fake . . . Asshole. I'm going to enjoy taking him down after we get the blackmailer. He endangered my family and I won't let that go."

"No and you shouldn't." Danny rubbed his wrist above his injured hand. "I'm surprised that Butler is still alive."

"Me too." Grabbing his baseball Booth rubbed his thumbs across the seams of the ball. "I'll bet Butler is surprised too."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Special Agent James Aubrey had assumed that he would be working exclusively on the blackmailer case, but he found out that Booth didn't work that way and he didn't allow his agents to work that way either. It wasn't unusual for Booth to be working more than one case and his team was expected to work the same way. The blackmailer case was critical, but until Angela or Pete finished wading through Wesley Foster's data and found someone for Booth to investigate, they would work on more mundane cases like murder investigations.

A body had been discovered in Great Falls Park in McLean, Virginia. A hiker had stopped near a waterfall to eat lunch when he'd noticed a body on some rocks below where he was standing. He had called out to see if the person lying below him had been injured, but the roar of the cascading water at the nearby waterfall had made that a useless endeavor. Lowering himself to the rocks below, he'd soon discovered that the man was dead. Moving back away from the falls until he could use his phone, he'd called and reported the find.

Now Hodgins and an FBI tech were examining the scene where the body lay and recorded everything before Booth, Brennan, Cam and Aubrey moved to the ledge from the rocks above them. Once pictures were taken, Hodgins gave Booth the thumbs up and started to collect water samples and particulates while the FBI tech moved over to the rocky face and helped Brennan and Cam move down to where he was standing. Brennan had been tempted to decline the help, but the mist from the fall kept the rocks damp and slippery and she didn't want to risk breaking any bones. Once she and Cam were down on the ledge examining the body, Booth and Aubrey joined them.

Keeping back from the body, Booth made a quick sketch of the scene in his notebook, paying particular attention to the distance from the ledge to where the body lay. Was he pushed or did he fall? That would be the key to whether or not they were dealing with a crime scene or not.

The damp air made Aubrey feel a little chilly and he wished he'd worn a jacket. "So, pushed or fell?"

Her eyes on the victim as she examined the fractured neck of the victim, Cam pursed her lips momentarily. "I'd say the body is too far from the ledge to have fallen, so probably pushed."

"Probably thrown from above." Helping Cam turn the body over Brennan noticed the cuts on the man's hands and the torn skin on his arms and legs. The victim's shorts and shirt had blood on them, but that was to be expected. "These tears on the skin, the trauma to the arms and legs . . . he didn't jump and he didn't fall. We'll need to do some tests and finish our examination at the Lab, but it's probable that he was thrown from the ledge above and he landed here face down. He didn't die instantly and he probably died in a lot of pain. The fractured zygomaticofacial foramen, the fractured ulnas." She felt his legs and nodded her head. "The fractured tibia. It was a hard fall and the rocks tore muscle and epidermis as well as fractured bones."

Feeling a little sick, Aubrey stared at the bloody limbs and face and knew that the victim had definitely suffered before he'd died. "Someone was pissed at this guy."

His eyes on the rocky ledge above him, Booth moved to the base and then stared at where the body lay. Making a few notes in his notebook, he bit his lower lip for a moment, lost in thought. The roar of the waterfall made it hard to hear, so he moved closer to his partner before he spoke to her. "I think it would have taken two people to have thrown him to make him land over here."

Gazing at the slippery rocks near the edge of the ledge, Aubrey shook his head. "What if he'd run towards edge of the rocks above and launched himself over this ledge. Maybe it's suicide."

Amused, Cam shook his head. "The man is between the ages of 65 and 75 years of age. I don't think he could have done what you said."

With a slight smirk on his face, Booth chimed in. "Plus the height isn't really that bad, maybe twenty feet. Most jumpers look for something higher. They want to die and not suffer doing it."

"He is in good health, or at least he appears to be." Brennan glanced at the rocks above then back at the body. "But I'm inclined to agree with Cam. I don't believe he was capable of doing what you're surmising."

"Okay, okay, it's just a theory. It's not engraved in stone." Aubrey knew that everyone on the ledge had years of experience compared to him, but he was a quick learner and he would get to where they were someday. "So . . . thrown. It's quite a trek out here. Do you think he was healthy enough to climb rocks and stuff to get here?"

Brennan studied the man's musculature and nodded her head. "He appears to be healthy and if he was careful, I don't see any reason why he couldn't. I'm sure we'll be able to give you a firmer answer once we have examined the body back at the Lab."

"Good enough." Shivering, Aubrey walked over to where Booth was standing and pointed at the rocks above. "I'm going up and look around and see if I can find anything."

"Go ahead." There were several techs working above them looking for particulates, blood and anything else that might give them an idea about what had happened. Aubrey helping with the search would be good practice for him. "Watch out for snakes."

Moving over to where he could climb safely back up to the ledge above, Aubrey chuckled. "Snakes don't bother me." Just don't let there be any damned spiders around here. The creepy little bastards.

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