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"I've had Aubrey do some research on the situation and it doesn't look good." Opening a packet of sugar, Booth poured it in his cup of coffee. "Besides the three men that Carla Richard reported missing there are two other's missing from the barbeque circuits. All reported missing by their families in the last two years."

Curious, Brennan placed her coffee cup down on the table and picked up her fork. "Why did it take this long for someone to notice?"

Swallowing his bite of cherry pie, Aubrey answered that question. "Each man was from a different city. All of them were bachelors and worked for big corporations. Gary Morgan was the only person reported missing by his team members. For the other four men, it's a different story. The only one that really missed them were their mothers and their work supervisors . . . well and Joe and Carla Richard. Their friends in the barbeque circuit didn't report them missing because two of the the missing men had been talking about quitting and their friends just assumed that's what they did. When the team members didn't hear from them, someone tried to contact the men, but since phone calls weren't returned each team assumed that their missing man didn't want to talk to them.

The third and fourth man worked for a large international corporation and it was assumed they were transferred to another part of the country or overseas and didn't bother to tell their team members." Sipping some iced tea, Aubrey glanced at his pie but didn't take another bite. "It took Carla's husband to put it together. He makes friends everywhere he goes and when these guys started missing barbeque cook-offs, he wanted to know why. He tried to call them and when he couldn't reach them he called their mothers and that's when he found out they were missing, that they never came back from their barbeque competition . . . he didn't miss them as they disappeared though. Some of them only did a few competitions a year, so it took Joe a while to notice they were missing."

"I talked to the Dallas police, the Austin police and the police departments from the cities where these men were from and they couldn't locate them." Booth sipped more of his coffee and then continued. "I also called the Houston Police and they haven't come up with anything either. All of the missing men disappeared in five different places, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Kansas City and Shreveport. Eventually their cars and trucks were found, but the police didn't find any signs that a crime had been committed in the vehicles. Three of the men stayed in motel rooms. I called the motels that they stayed in and the managers reported that their guests had checked out and nothing was found in their rooms to make the police think that anything bad had happened. Those men went to a barbeque cook-off and on the last day, they checked out of their rooms, took part in the final cook-off and then disappeared. Apparently the other two men slept in their RVs during the competition."

Her mind on possibilities, Brennan poked the cut up fruit in the bowl before her with her fork. "We need to have their vehicles brought to the Jeffersonian."

Slowly shaking his head, Booth informed her. "Can't do it. The cars and trucks were returned to the owners mothers. I talked to the ladies and two of them still have the vehicles, but the other trucks and car were either sold or given to another relative. The ladies that kept them have been using them and they keep them really clean. If there was anything useful in the vehicles then it probably isn't there now."

Determined to have someone look at them, Brennan insisted, "Booth, I can send Hodgins to at least examine the two vehicles that the victim's mothers have. If he finds anything then we can have the car or truck taken to the nearest FBI office so he can comb through them or we can have them brought here. I don't think we should overlook the possibility that there may be some clues still left to be found."

He was certain it was a waste of time, but Booth conceded he could be wrong. "Alright, I'll call Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Spencer and ask if we can look at them. I'm not sure I can get a warrant to look at the vehicles since the Houston and Austin Police Departments have already examined them and didn't find anything."

A little irritated, Brennan reminded him, "They aren't Jack Hodgins."

Amused, Booth patted her arm. "You're right. If there is anything to be found, he'd be the one to find it . . . I'll make the calls when I get back to the Hoover."

Swallowing the last bite of his pie, Aubrey placed his fork down on the plate. "You know . . . if we're dealing with a serial killer then it's going to be hard tracking him or her down . . . um . . . what we need to do is go undercover at the next barbeque cook-off. We can ask Joe and Carla Richard if we can join their team. It would be the best way to see what's going on and catch whoever is killing contestants."

Alerted by Aubrey's use of the word 'we', Booth chuckled. "You just want to go undercover because it involves barbeque."

A feeling of indignation sweeping through him, Aubrey protested Booth's assertion. "I want to go undercover to find a murderer and this is the best way to do it. Food hasn't got anything to do with it."

"Alright, simmer down." His coffee finished, Booth moved the cup to the side. "I actually think it's a good idea, but I think it would work better if it was me and Bones. We're used to going undercover and we work really good together."

Disappointed that he was being shut out of another undercover assignment, Aubrey complained. "How do you know I wouldn't be great at it? Besides, Dr. Brennan is a vegetarian. Wouldn't it be cruel to make her cook and taste meat like that? They don't do tofu at barbeque cook-offs. It's real chicken and cows and pigs. Not soybean byproducts."

Her nose wrinkling, Brennan slowly shook her head. "Booth, I'd rather not have to eat animals. I can cook them when I have to, but eating them . . . I don't think I can do it."

Concerned for her, Booth rubbed her back. "Hey, you won't have to eat anything you don't want to. If we talk Carla and Joe into taking us in their crew we would be working for them while we investigate. If anything needs to be tasted I can do it. I promise you won't have to eat meat." Glaring at Aubrey, Booth reminded her, "You're my partner, Bones. We're great at undercover."

Brennan thought it over and smiled. "Alright. We do pretty good undercover work . . . Alright, I'll go undercover with you."

Disappointed, Aubrey's shoulders slumped. Sipping his milkshake, he was once more reminded that Booth didn't trust him completely. What's it going to take to get him to completely trust me? I thought we were past all that shit.

Aware that Aubrey was upset, Booth rubbed his tongue around the bottom of his teeth and finally spoke. "We still might be able to use you, Aubrey. Bones and me could work the inside angle and you could work the outside angle. You could go to the competition as a visitor. Maybe as Wanda's brother. You could walk around the competition, ask questions . . . move around between the contestants and see if anything odd is going on. You could also watch the visitors and see if you see anyone suspicious. Maybe between the three of us, we can find out what's going on."

Surprised and delighted that he was going undercover after all, Aubrey sat up straight and tried to look very reliable and professional. "Yeah, that's great. You could talk to the competitors and I could talk to the people that go to the competitions and maybe the other competitors too. Yeah . . . we might catch us a killer pretty quickly if all three of us are on the case."

Her gaze moving from Booth to Aubrey and back, Brennan finally interrupted Aubrey. "Why do you want him to go as my brother? We don't share any common physical markers. No one with sense will believe he's my brother."

Amused that Brennan didn't want Aubrey to pretend to be her brother, Booth laughed. "Okay, step-brother or maybe a half-brother. How about that?"

Conceding that would work, Brennan finished her coffee. "Yes, that would okay."

Not sure he was doing a wise thing by inviting Aubrey into an undercover operation, Booth sat back and glanced at his wristwatch. "Okay, I need to get back to the Hoover. I'll make a few phone calls and see if this is even feasible. I'll let you know this evening if we're going to do this."

Standing, Brennan slung her purse over her shoulder. "If we're going to do this, I'll see if Max can take care of Christine and Hank while we're gone. If he can't do it, I'm sure Angela won't mind watching our children for us."

Booth removed some money from his wallet to cover his and Brennan's coffee and snacks. "Sounds good." Standing, he kissed Brennan. "I'll pick you and the kids up around six."

His money placed on top of Booth's money in the middle of the table, Aubrey's mouth salivated at the thought of all the barbeque he planned to eat while he helped investigate a possible serial killer. God, this is a dream come true. I love my job.

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