('The Loyalty in the Lie')

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Dr. Benjamin Metzger was a busy man and it worried him that he was wasting time sitting in an interview room. He hoped he could straighten this out, whatever this was and get back to what he had been doing before he'd been interrupted. He hated the bureaucracy of the FBI and he hoped that when his ship finally came in, he could move on, leave the Hoover and never come back.

Booth studied Metzger through the two way mirror and tried to get a feel for the situation. He needed this to play out right or Metzger would walk away from what he had tried to start and he didn't want that to happen. Kevin O'Donnell's life and a lot of undercover FBI Agents lives might depend upon it.

While Booth was observing Metzger, Brennan entered the observation room and walked over to where her husband was standing. She had been back at work for four months and this was the first time she'd been involved in one of Booth's cases. Up until now, Dr. Edison had been going in the field with Booth while she caught up with her work at the Jeffersonian and worked on identifying the remains of seven service members who served during the Korean Conflict. Their bodies had been recently returned to the custody of the United States and she had been asked to help with the identification. "That is Dr. Metzger?"

"Yeah, I had him brought to the interview room, but after talking to Caroline and Stark again, we think it's a mistake to talk to him yet." Booth rubbed the bottom of his jaw. "I want the name of the FBI agent that has the list of undercover agents, but there's no guarantee that Metzger will give us the name. Caroline and Stark and I talked it over and we think it'll be better to let him go for now and start background checks on the FBI Agents at the Hoover that have access to the list of undercover agents. If we come in this from the side, we might be able to connect Metzger to this thing that way instead of just relying on Kevin's say so. So far, all we've got is tweets and two emails and any lawyer could claim it's just fantasy or bravado talk . . . You know, like what would I do if I won the Lottery . . . that kind of thing. Kevin's testimony would help, but it's still not an open and shut case. We need not only Metzger but the other agent involved too. Too many lives are at risk. I have some techs looking at his computer and the computers of everyone in his office. They're not saying why they're doing it, but hopefully Metzger won't think he's being targeted."

"Alright, that makes sense." Brennan stared at the digital forensic scientist. "What's Kevin O'Donnell going to do? Metzger is going to expect him to go through with the home invasion of Victor Masbourian's house."

Leaning against the mirror, Booth folded his arms against his chest. "Kevin is going to put off Metzger for the next two days. If we still can't connect Metzger to this mess then Kevin and his wife are going to go visit her sister in North Dakota for a week or so to give us more time. If Metzger is in a hurry then Kevin not cooperating might make him do something stupid. I don't know how urgent his plan is. I assume there's some urgency since he's counting on Masbourian having the $2 million in his safe and I doubt Masbourian keeps that kind of money in his safe all the time. If Metzger still wants that two mil then he'll try something else. We're going to monitor him and his calls."

Disappointed that there was not going to be an interview, Brennan sighed. "I was looking forward to the interview. I've missed being in interview rooms with you when we get the villain to admit to his odious misdeeds."

Amused, Booth laughed and placed his hands on her arms. "Hey, I've missed you being with me too. I promise when it's time to interview Metzger I will have you in the room with me."

Kissing Booth lightly on the lips Brennan smiled. "Good I look forward to that."

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While Booth watched from the observation room, Agent Aubrey entered the interview room to speak to Metzger.

"You can go." Aubrey stood just inside the doorway and checked his watch trying to give the impression of a man in a hurry.

"Just like that? Why the hell was I asked to come here in the first place?" Metzger wasn't sure he liked what was going on. If he'd had the interview, at least he would have known why he had been called in.

Shrugging his shoulders, Aubrey checked his watch again. "Hey, I just work here, just like you do. They say jump and I jump." Looking over his shoulder, the young agent waited for Metzger to stand up and leave the room. As the digital forensic scientist passed him, Aubrey shook his head. "Someone called in a tip that someone in your department has been sharing child porn with some other agents at Homeland Security and the NSA. The reporter had the initials of the perv and so we had to check that out. It was a hot tip from some reliable reporter and the techs needed you here while they looked at your computer. They didn't find anything so you're free to go."

"For God's sake, there is no one that loathsome in my department including me. This is bullshit." Angry, Metzger glared at the agent and wondered why the FBI was always willing to take the word of outsiders. It was just one more reason he wanted to leave the FBI as soon as possible.

"Hey, I get it, but the FBI can't let something like that go by and not investigate it." He needed Metzger to go back to work. "They didn't find any porn on your computer or anyone else's computer in your department, so just let it go. Some reporter was obviously trying to fish for a story and he thought he might have luck here. It didn't happen, so don't worry about it."

Not really mollified, Metzger stormed off down the hallway. He would have to check everyone's computer in his office to make sure no one had unprofessional material on their computers. Today they were looking for porn but who knew what they might look for down the road if some reporter decided to try another fishing expedition.

Once Metzger was on the elevator, Aubrey walked next door and entered to observation room. "I think his panties are tied up in a knot."

"Good. He can worry about porn on computers while we search for the agent with the list." Booth left the room with Aubrey following him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do next."

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Uncertain if there was a problem or not, Agent Grace Miller knew that it was unusual for her partner to just disappear without telling anyone, but Richard Bannerman had been missing for two days and so far, she had not been able to contact him. They'd had a falling out, but she doubted he wouldn't show up for work because of that. The man was a professional. As a member of internal investigations, it was worrisome that her partner had disappeared but she didn't want to make a big deal about that for the moment. She knew that wouldn't last very long. After two more days had gone by, she had used her key to his house and with the help of another agent they had searched the place looking for any indication that Richard was in trouble. They hadn't found anything suspicious, so Grace decided to wait and see what happened next.

Aware that there was an agent with classified information willing to sell it for millions of dollars, Caroline checked with personnel to see if any agents had changed their work habits, gone on vacation in the last few days or just hadn't shown up for work. She was looking for whoever had access to that list of agents and she felt that if the agent was trying to sell it then his normal work patterns might have been disrupted. With a clue that she thought was worth looking into, she entered Booth's office and dropped a sheet of paper on his desk. "Agent Richard Bannerman is missing. He works for internal investigations and he has access to the list of undercover agents."

"Good work." Booth picked up the sheet of paper and read it. "Richard Bannerman, he's been with the FBI for 16 years, good reputation . . . has anyone talked to his partner yet?"

"No, I'll leave that to you." Caroline felt in her gut that Bannerman might be the agent they were looking for. "The man hasn't been seen for four days and he hasn't contacted anyone at the FBI to let them know he'd be gone. This isn't looking good, Cher'."

Booth agreed. "Yeah . . . Metzger tried to call Kevin O'Donnell but Kevin didn't answer the phone. After trying all day, he drove over by O'Donnell's apartment, but Kevin and his wife weren't there. They were on their way to North Dakota by then. He called a man named Pete Montgomery and talked to him for 15 minutes yesterday evening. Montgomery has a dishonorable from the Marines. Metzger may still be trying to get someone to rob Victor Masbourian's safe for the two million."

"Interesting." Caroline wasn't too concerned about Masbourian. The man was a horrifying human being and he could take care of himself or not, but she was worried about the list. "I had Marcus Geier pick up Richard Bannerman's computer this morning and he didn't tell anyone why he was taking it. I'd rather not tip my hand if I don't have to and I didn't have to. No one asked him. He took it to the Lab and gave it to Ms. Montenegro. I called her shortly afterward and told her what I was looking for. She's supposed to get back to me as soon as possible. I need to know if Bannerman has been acting in a nefarious manner. He's our only lead right now."

"In the meantime, I'll talk to his partner Grace Miller." Booth stood up and slipped his jacket on. "I'm going to send Aubrey and Bones to Bannerman's house and see if they can find any clues as to where Bannerman went. If there are any clues to be found, Bones will find them."

Since her meeting was over, Caroline stood up and walked with Booth to his office door. "I think we're running out of time. If Metzger gets that $2 million he's going to buy that list and sell it. A lot of agents are counting on us to get this right, Cher'. If we don't . . ."

"Yeah, I'm on it, Caroline." After calling Brennan and explaining the situation to her, he asked her to do a search of Richard Bannerman's house. Next, he walked out into the bullpen and asked Agent Aubrey to contact Brennan and arrange to help her with the search of Bannerman's house. He explained why they were looking for Bannerman and told him to keep the search as quiet as possible. That accomplished, he moved down the hallway then down the stairwell to the Internal Investigations Offices. He was running out of time and he needed Bannerman's partner to talk to him about her partner.

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