"Mrs. Garcia? I'm Dr. Brennan and this is Agent Booth of the FBI. We've coming regarding your husband." They had reached a suburban house just south of Las Vegas and were met by a young Mexican woman who seemed to be quite timid.
"Tony?" She gasped, obviously caught off-guard. "Please, come in."
Inside the house was as elegant as the outside; it was decorated in a modest beige and the furniture was of the highest quality. It was spacious and tidy, much like the stereotypical suburban house.
"Please, sit down." Mrs. Garcia waved to the sofa.
"Thank you." Booth and Brennan took their seats.
"Can I offer you a drink? Tea perhaps?" She said, unable to stop twiddling her fingers.
"Um, no, thank you." Booth answered, looking to Brennan who realized he'd obviously detected something she hadn't. When tea had been rejected, Mrs. Garcia nervously sat down, anxious to hear what they had to say. "Mrs. Garcia, we believe we've found your husband. I regret to inform you that he is deceased."
"Oh!" She gasped, leaning back into her chair for support. Her breathing accelerated, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry." Brennan offered her condolences.
Mrs. Garcia tried to recapture her breath for a few moments, trying to recompose herself. "I suspected… he was gone for so long, but to hear you say it…" She looked away, tears rolled down her face. She took a tissue out of her red handbag, which caught Brennan's particular attention. Brennan cared little about women's fashion, but even she could tell that it was a cheap knock-off, hardly the usual accessory for such a wealthy woman, if her house was any indication to her money.
"Mrs. Garcia, I know this is a tragic time for you, but you should know that your husband was murdered." Booth added.
"Murdered? By whom?" Her tears stopped, and it seemed the chock of hearing it made her angry, or at least surprised.
"We have a few leads, but we may need you in for questioning, nothing for you to worry about, just routine." Booth informed her, sympathetic to her situation.
"Of course." She sobbed, wiping her tears away gently.
"Mrs. Garcia, do you know who Jack Brithe is?" Brennan asked bluntly, and then receiving an irritated look from Booth as if to say 'let me handle this'.
Mrs. Garcia looked thoughtful for a moment, probably trying to match a face to the name. "No, I don't think so. Tony knew so many people, especially with the gambling –"
"He gambled often?" Booth interrupted.
Mrs. Garcia smiled nostalgically. "Yes."
"And when was the last time you saw your husband?" Booth asked.
"In the early evening, Saturday 19th May, last month, before he went to Vegas." She replied. "He would go to Vegas every Saturday. Sometimes he'd win, more often he'd lose."
"Did he ever mention a Jack Brithe to you? Read anything he'd written down about him? Saw a check receipt?" Booth probed.
Mrs. Garcia looked thoughtful again. "Yes, I believe I did hear something. In fact, it was the Saturday before he disappeared. Tony had lost a lot of money through gambling to a 'Jack' and Tony came home drunk, rambling about not knowing how to pay the money back. I think he was going to play that man again the night my Tony disappeared."
"When you were filing the missing persons report, you didn't think to put any of this in there?" Brennan questioned her.
"I forgot. I was in such a state when I filed the report, I couldn't think straight." She admitted. Brennan and Booth looked to one another, considering her story.
"Well, thank you Mrs. Garcia, and I'm truly sorry about your husband. Rest assured we're going to find the person who did this." Booth offered, knowing that although he couldn't ever console the victim's families for their loss, but at least catching the murderer would offer them some comfort. Brennan stood up and shook the woman's hand, Booth doing the same after her.
"Please find the monster who did this to my Tony?" She pleaded and held onto Booth's hand.
"We'll do everything we can." Booth promised, before they left the house.
Booth put on his sunglasses as they got into the car to drive back to the Jeffersonian.
"Do you believe her?" Brennan caught Booth's skeptical look inside the house and just had to ask.
"I don't know. My gut's telling me she wasn't being truthful, and she did some strange things…" Booth left off to think for himself.
"Like what? What do you mean?" Brennan asked, sometimes aggravated that he could see things she couldn't, despite her heightened IQ.
"We told her we had information about her husband after six weeks of uncertainty. Most people would have asked us what it was when we were on the porch. She offered us tea." Booth reasoned. "On the other hand, the Jack Brithe story was convincing. I think I'm gonna check ton see if and when Brithe and Tony's last game was and question Brithe." Booth concluded.
"Ok, well, I'll come." Brennan offered.
Booth chuckled. "Bones, questioning a potential suspect requires a certain… charisma, finesse. Being subtle is key."
"Are you saying I'm not subtle?" Brennan felt offended. "I'm subtle."
"I'm just saying that your better at, you know, the lab technical stuff, whereas my area of expertise is more… people relations." Booth explained.
"What? That is so… You're so…" Brennan was too frustrated for words, annoyed that he thought that her only talents were 'squint' related.
"Charming? Devilishly handsome? Helpful?" Booth offered, baring a wide grin.
"I was going for unwelcome." Brennan finished, then turned feeling upset to face the window.
"Come on Bones, I'm only joking." Booth laughed. "Why is it you always get so annoyed when I do that?"
"Because… you know how to push my buttons where I haven't even found yours." She admitted.
"So you're annoyed at me because I know how to annoy you and you don't know how to annoy me?" Booth summed up, Brennan remained silent. "Doing a pretty good job at the moment, Bones." Booth glanced at her between glancing at the road ahead, "You know what you need? You need to quit being so uptight, let loose a bit, chill."
"I am loose." Brennan argued. "I happen to be capable of having a fun night, of 'chilling' with my friends. I'm not as boring as you believe me to be."
"Bones, I don't think you're boring." Booth confessed. "In fact I think you're one of the most unboring people I know." He smiled.
"No you don't." She laughed, easily able to see past his unconvincing white lie.
"Ok, maybe I don't." Booth laughed. "But you could be. You should come out with me some night and we'll party it up."
"Party it up? Who talks like that?" Brennan teased. "I'll tell you what, we get through this case without being shot at, or tied up, or almost dead, and I'll go with you wherever you want to go." Brennan compromised.
"Deal." Booth agreed, and without even thinking, added. "It's a date."
Both Booth and Brennan reflected on his last words, entering an uncomfortable silence, Booth regretting how he'd said it, and Brennan wondering what exactly he meant by it. Oh yeah, and there was Sully too. Interesting how he was her last thought.