(After "The Recluse in the Recliner')

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Oddly enough, they caught a small break in their case when the FBI got a call from Dr. Thomas Greenwood, a veterinarian located ten miles from where Corbet Frye had lived. Barney hadn't been seen since his owner's death and there had been an alert put out to all the veterinarians in the area to contact the FBI if the dog was brought to them.

On the day Corbet disappeared, Barney had been found by a neighbor. The dog had clearly been hurt and his leg appeared to have been hit with what looked like a bullet. The neighbor, Candice Blanchard had carried the crying dog into her house, cleaned the wound and tried to take care of it. The next day she was worried that the dog was going to die if she didn't get him some professional help since her efforts weren't helping. Wrapping the wounded dog in a blanket, she placed him on the passenger side of the car and drove him to the veterinarian she used for her cat. The dog was listless and didn't protest when she carried him into the office.

Concerned, the Vet took Barney into an examination room with Ms. Blanchard and examined the dog. "He's been shot. The bullet exited out of the leg so its not in there . . . what did you do when you found him?"

Anxious for the dog, Candice replied, "I washed the wounds with warm water. I poured peroxide on the wounds then I used Neosporin and covered both wounds. I wrapped his leg in some gauze and I gave him some antibiotics I had left over when my cat Spike got that bladder infection. I realized this morning that he needed professional help, so I brought him to you. Just take care of him and I'll take care of the bill. I don't know who he belongs to. I found him in the backyard near my back door, but if the owner doesn't show up, I'll keep him. He really is a sweet dog."

After taking care of the wounds and making sure that the dog drank some water, he used a scanner to see if the dog had a chip implanted on him and found one. Checking the information, he noticed that the owner lived in the same neighborhood that Candice lived in. That worried him, so he called the police and reported the shooting. An officer came out to the office to take down some information and afterward drove over to Corbet Frye's house. When no one answered the door, he looked into the living room window and saw that the lights were off and no one appeared to be home. The door was locked and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so he left. At the station he let the desk sergeant know what he had done and went back out on patrol.

In the meantime, Barney started feeling better and Candice took him home the next day. After a few days, Dr. Greenwood's office got an alert from the FBI and once Thomas had seen who they were looking for, he knew that Barney must be the key to something big if the FBI was looking for him. Calling the phone number provided, Thomas soon found himself talking to Special Agent Aubrey. "I treated the dog you're looking for and I know where he is. He's in good hands. The person who found him said she was going to keep him if the owner didn't want him."

After he wrote down the address of Candice Blanchard in his notebook, he let the vet tell him why Candice had brought Barney in. "The poor dog was shot in his hind right leg. Candice did a good job of taking care of him, but he needed better antibiotics than she had for her cat. The wound was starting to get infected. I had to clean out that mess and after a few hours Barney was feeling better."

Thanking the doctor, he rode out to Candice's house and found her home. Flashing his badge and credentials, Aubrey introduced himself. "Special Agent Aubrey. Dr. Greenwood said you found a dog that had been shot. We've been looking for him. His owner was a victim of a crime and we needed to find his dog."

Appalled, Candice placed her hand over her mouth for a few seconds. "I knew that something was wrong, but I didn't know what. I assumed that some sadist had shot Barney for kicks, but Dr. Greenwood reported the shooting to the police and I didn't hear anything after that." Motioning him into the living room, Candice pointed towards the couch where Barney was laying on a blanket next to a large black and white cat. "He's been such a good boy and Spike seems to like him. Spike has been staying near him since I brought Barney back from the vet."

"So, you didn't know who owned Barney when you found him?" Aubrey noted how clean the house was and approved of Candice being such a kind person to a hurt animal. That made her good people as far as he was concerned.

"No, I found out where he lived from Dr. Greenwood and I've walked over there every day to Mr. Frye's house, but the house is always empty. I saw some blood near the pool when I checked the backyard and I assumed it was Barney's blood. There isn't a fence around Mr. Frye's house but a neighbor said Mr. Frye has been living there for a few months and planned to have a fence built so Barney could play in the backyard by himself. The times I was over there, I never saw his car. He has a garage, but I never tried to open the door to see if it was there . . . I read in the paper yesterday about Mr. Frye's death, so I assume that is why you're here. You're not going to take Barney, are you? I want to keep him if no one wants him."

Not sure what Corbet's family planned for the dog, Aubrey shrugged his shoulders. "I'll check with Mr. Corbett's sister and daughter . . . so you didn't hear any gunshots the day you found Barney?"

"I was visiting my brother on the other side of the city and I found Barney in my backyard when I got home, so no I didn't hear anything . . . I just retired last month . . . most of my neighbors work, so they would have been at work if Mr. Corbet was killed during the day." Candice had always felt safe in her neighborhood, but now she knew that crime could happen anywhere to anyone.

"Okay . . . tell you what. You can keep Barney for now and I'll call you in a day or two to let you now if you can keep him permanently or not." Aubrey walked over to where Barney lay and petted him. Surprisingly the cat didn't move, Spike just glared at him as if he was warning of dire consequences if he tried anything funny. "I like your style, Spike."

After he left Candice's house, he called Hodgins. "Hey, I found Frye's dog. He's alive and he's been shot. The bullet passed through his leg. Any chance you could do a search of Frye's backyard for the bullet. It might be a long shot, but I could really use that bullet."

"I'll drop what I'm doing and get over there right away. I have a metal detector and that might help me find it.

"Thanks, Man." Aubrey ended the call then called Booth to let him know what was going on. They both hoped that Hodgins found the bullet. It just might give them a lead that they desperately needed.

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Although Booth was inclined to call it a miracle, Hodgins shrugged it off as another day at the office. "I found the bullet buried in a tree trunk along the back of the yard. I could kick myself for not thinking to look for it before now. I mean we knew that Frye's dog had been hurt, but it made sense it was a gun . . . anyway I have the bullet and Angela sent prints of the rifling on the bullet to the FBI Lab. They have access to more police databases than we do. I really hope this leads somewhere."

"I do too." Booth felt that Frye's death might lead back to the Blackmailer. It just seemed to be too much for it to be a coincidence that someone from Homeland Security was murdered when so much stuff was going on. Two Congressmen dead, a Deputy Director of Homeland Security in prison for treason and murder, an attack on him in his home by paid assassins . . . Frye's death meant something. They just needed to know what that something was.

Shortly after Hodgins left his office, a knock on his office door frame caused Booth to jump a little in his chair.

Amused, Danny walked in laughing. "A little jumpy, aren't you?"

"I have a right to be." Booth closed the file he had open on his PC and turned to face his friend. "How's the hand?"

Holding it up, Danny gave Booth a sad look. "It's still attached to my arm . . . it's okay . . . I need to talk to you." After he closed the door, he sat down. "Our friend Pete contacted me . . . I wish that guy worked for me. He's way too clever for his own good, but . . . anyway, he called me and asked to meet me at a park he likes. We talked and he gave me some info you need to hear about Corbet Frye. Before Frye retired, he was looking into some connections between William King, the owner of Kings Company and a character that has odd connections to our government. . . Ever hear of Desmond Wilson? He was one of Herbert Hoover's aides. A couple of months before Hoover's files were to be destroyed, Wilson retired. Don't know if that means anything, but I've learned that there is no such thing as coincidences . . . Anyway, the man had a stepson . . . Glen Durant. He's a physician at Bethesda Presbyterian Hospital. Durant's name has shown up in emails to William King and his successor Adam Peterson. I know you guys have been looking at McNamara's ties to what's been going on and I know that the guys that attacked us were connected to Kings Company who had connections to Giles McNamara. I guess Pete got interested in William King and why he suddenly died in a plane crash. He's not a very trusting guy . . . I like him. That's why I have a guy watching over him. Pete doesn't know that by the way, I'm not sure what he would do if he thought he was under surveillance. . . He's too valuable an asset for us to let him to get hit by a car crossing the road or accidentally drown in the bathtub."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Booth was getting impatient. He had a lot of work to do and his friend was giving him a headache.

Aware that Booth was under a lot of pressure, Danny ignored his friend's interruption. "Durant went to college with William King. They were roommates their freshman year in college. From what Pete could find out, they belonged to some of the same social clubs in school and they continued to do so as adults. Durant is not a rich man . . . He's a man of moderate means but he knows rich and powerful people. Now you're going to find this next part very interesting. As you know King is dead and Adam Peterson is running the company the same way King did. They still sell the services of mercenaries to anyone willing to pay for their services . . . Peterson lied when he said that those three assassins who came after you didn't work for him. He publicly fired them, but they were still secretly working for Kings Company when they died. Pete found Durant's name in an email to Adam Peterson. Durant said he needed a job done and he expected Kings Company to help him. Peterson said he'd send three of his men to do the job and he expected Durant to leave him alone after that because . . ." Danny paused to emphasize what he was about to say.

"Durant was asking for his men to kill an FBI Agent and if they did the job, Durant would be guilty of hiring for murder. In the email, he demanded that Durant courier over $100 to Kings Company before the job was done. That made sure that Durant was in it up to his neck because he had paid for the murders. He wouldn't be able to deny it since there would be a money trail. Durant protested and threatened Peterson, but Peterson refused to budge. Whatever blackmail Durant had on him wasn't enough to make Peterson do what he wanted without some insurance." Now, Danny was ready to drop his bombshell. "What if Durant is the blackmailer? His stepfather was Hoover's aide and he had access to Hoover's files. Those files were toxic and could be used to blackmail people. That was why they were supposed to be destroyed, but what if they weren't? What if Desmond Wilson's stepson has access to those files and he's been using them to blackmail politically connected people? Hell, he could control people with those files. His biggest problem right now is you and the squints at the Jeffersonian. You brought down Wayne Kitchen and William King was about to go down when he died. The McNamara Corporation is being investigated by Homeland Security because you cracked the Ghost Killer Case and it led it back to Giles McNamara and then proved that he had connections to the shit that Wayne Kitchen had done. The Blackmailer needs to get rid of you before you do any more damage to his organization and what better way to do it than to have you killed?"

"I can't believe these idiots traded emails about this shit." Shocked, Booth shook his head. "Peterson is running a mercenary company and he writes emails to people to arrange murders? How stupid can he be?"

Leaning back against his chair, Danny rested his healing hand on his thigh. "Very stupid. William King must have been the brains of the outfit, Booth and that's lucky for us."

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