AN: Thanks to bb-4ever, Frona, beaglelvr93, Kasper, Bones4Ever, phi4858, and I hart Booth for the reviews!
Chapter Six: Creepy Bone Lady
"Why are you so upset with me, I'm only helping you catch Howard Epps," Brennan called after Booth as he stormed down to the morgue. She sighed as she fixed her visitors badge on her shirt and ran after him. Ignoring her, he traveled down several flights of stairs to the floor where the coroner's office and mortuary rooms in the Bureau building were at. She caught up to him and pulled on his arm, causing him to whip around. She practically plowed into Booth's chest and ended up being a mere few inches from his face as he spoke vehemently.
"You are supposed to be a vegetable in a hospital! You are not supposed to be some bone expert! You--" and he jabbed his finger at her face to make a point, "scare the living hell out of me! So excuse me if I'm not in the talking chit-chat mood, okay?"
She placed her hands on her hips and scoffed, "I scare you? Come on, you were in the Rangers--"
"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you just didn't throw out random facts about my life, hmmm?"
"Fine."
"Thank you, Ms. Brennan," Booth said stiffly as he started walking again. Brennan rolled her eyes and corrected, "I said to call me Tempe."
"Tempe, creepy bone lady, whatever," he mumbled as he pushed the morgue door open. The official coroner and an assistant looked up from a table with a badly decomposing young woman on it, and Booth nodded to the both of them. The assistant was young, fresh out of college and taller than Booth with jet black hair and amber eyes. The other was middle-aged, balding, and seemed to shrink in on himself. He was meek-appearing and mouse-faced. Brennan stepped out from behind Booth and the two others looked at her skeptically. To her annoyance, she saw the skepticism evolve into goggling over her looks.
"Dr. Riley, Jake, is that our Jane Doe from two days ago?" Booth asked as he came over.
"Yes sir," the assistant, Jake, answered. "We haven't made much progress due to the fact all identifying markers have been destroyed--"
"Not to mention the homicide rate on federal lands and missing kid cases have skyrocketed. We haven't had a moment's rest," Dr. Riley added, slightly miffed at having his assistant answer for him. Brennan sighed, irritated. She just wanted to look at the body, not get in the middle of a testosterone battle.
Sensing her impatience, Booth snapped his fingers and demanded, "Focus, gentlemen. This is Tempe Brennan, and she's the woman I called about earlier."
"I meant to ask you, who said she was qualified to--" Dr. Riley began until Brennan interrupted him.
"Female is in the third stage of decomp…late teens to early twenties. Cause of death seems to be blunt force trauma to the skull…I see no other wounds other than defensive. Teeth are missing, and the facial structures are mutilated to keep identification almost impossible. Fingertips were also taken, and from the way the exposed bone is cut, it looks like a power tool did the job."
Dr. Riley opened and closed his mouth. Jake grinned and announced, "Well hell, she has my vote."
Ignoring him, Brennan asked Dr. Riley, "Do you have in your possession x-rays of the victim? Because she still has flesh, I'm not able to do much more as far as identification." Wordlessly he grabbed one of the files he had in a brown leather bag and handed it over. Booth leaned against a chair, his face set in deep thought as he looked on.
She held the scans to the light and clarified, "These are the originals?"
"Yes, ma'am," Jake answered. Dr. Riley shot him another dirty look and said to Brennan, "The black areas you see between the distal and proximal rows are air."
"Did you dissect the flesh and observe the bones to make sure?" Brennan asked as she handed some of the scans back to Dr. Riley. He shook his head and Brennan bit back an insult. Grabbing a pair of latex gloves and cutting instruments, she shoved past the coroner, oblivious to the creeping anger in his face. She was the second person that day to continually usurp his authority, and that damaged his ego incredibly. Booth watched the exchange and cracked a small smile before his face set back into stoniness.
Cutting into where the black splotches on the x-rays were and peeling back rancid flesh, Jake commented dryly, "Not the squeamish type, is she?"
"The shadows aren't air…" Brennan trailed off as she set down her implements and picked up a pair of tweezers, "they're some sort of stone." Grabbing a dish, she dropped a piece of bloodied gravel into it. Booth stepped over and asked, "I suppose that means something? Right?"
"Where was the body found, Booth?" Brennan asked while digging out more gravel.
Booth looked at her grimly and replied, "In a kindergarten playground. I know what you're thinking--there was no pavement, only mulch and grass were present. We know she was hidden in the bushes for about a week."
"Which means she was killed somewhere else. Narrow down where the gravel might have come from. Until you guys clean the bones, I won't be of much more help in identification. With her bones, I maybe able to tell occupation markers, find any old injuries…" she stopped and took in the shattered face. It was like history was repeating itself, especially with the discovery of the imbedded gravel. Another dead woman lay on the table, faceless, lifeless, and nameless. It was sickening--and it was wrong. She needed to bring Epps down before he murdered another innocent girl. She muttered softly to Booth, "Epps is one sick bastard."
Booth lowered his eyes. "I know."
She shook her head and wished aloud, "If Angela was here, she might have been able to reconstruct the skull…find out who this poor woman was sooner. I don't understand why she was mutilated while the other victims weren't…"
His voice tight, Booth asked, "Angela? As in Angela Montenegro?"
Hope filled Brennan's face and she replied, "Yes! Do you know her?"
Booth nodded. "Yeah. I know her." He left it at that, and Brennan sensed something was wrong. Fear punched her hard in the gut and she waited for Booth to explain how he knew Angela. Diverting his eyes, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's time we went for a drive. There's something I need to show you."