When Booth took Hadley and Bones back to her apartment after they finished their meal at the diner, Hadley helped him address an issue that had been a problem for some time.
"Uh, Bones?"
"Yes, Hadley?"
"Where's your TV?"
"She doesn't have one," Booth answered.
"Oh."
"I know! See, Bones! Even a teenage girl thinks it's weird that you don't have a TV!"
Brennan nodded. "I'm not here enough to watch it…"
Booth rocked back and forth on his feet and smiled at Hadley. "I sense a 'But'," he told her.
"But with Hadley here, I will be home more often and I'm sure the two of you will benefit slightly from it as well. I'll call tomorrow to get things set up," she told them.
Booth laughed and held a hand out for Hadley to high-five. The girl accepted with a small smile.
"Okay, so what are we going to do now?" Booth asked.
Brennan pulled him away from Hadley. "Aren't you going to keep working the case?"
"Not tonight. I need my partner for that and right now, my partner kinda just adopted a kid."
"I didn't adopt her, Booth. There is a difference between foster care and adoption."
"I know, Bones. But…you need to be with Hadley tonight."
"Of course. That doesn't mean you can't work the case."
Booth raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You want me to work the case…without you?"
"I want you to keep me in the spiral, but yes. I want you to do this for Hadley," Brennan told him.
Booth chuckled a bit. "Keep you in the loop, Bones."
"You promise?"
He rolled his eyes but smiled gently at his partner. "Of course, Bones. You really care about her."
"She shouldn't be with me right now. She should be at her home with her father."
"I know, Bones. I'm sorry. If you need anything, or if you two just want some company later…just give me call."
She smiled. "Thanks, Booth."
He wanted to hug her; she looked like she needed it. But, instead, he went to the door, shouted a goodbye to Hadley and left.
"Where's he going?" Hadley asked.
"Back to work."
Hadley just nodded and sat on the couch.
"We're going to find out what happened to your father," Brennan promised.
"I know. I believe you."
"Okay, Squints! Talk to me!" Booth said as he leapt onto the forensic platform.
"The blunt force trauma to the skull was the cause of death. We can't find a murder weapon but whatever it was didn't leave any marks. Whoever killed him probably used whatever was handy," Cam told him.
"That sand we found," Hodgins started, handing him a folder, "I can trace one of the two types. The first type isn't going to do us much good. I say if there's a kid's sandbox at the crime scene, you're on the right track. The second type, I traced it back to J and F Quarry. They delivered a large load of sand to Reggie's Tavern about a month ago for a volleyball league our victim was in."
"Wow, why don't you let me do some of the investigating?" Booth suggested.
"Hey, how's Bren doing?" Angela asked, joining the rest of the team on the platform.
"She's fine. She just wants the case solved for Hadley. This is all you can give me?"
"I tried reconstructing the wound, to see if I could get a pattern from the weapon. I got nothing," Angela told him. Cam and Hodgins told him the same.
"Look, I need Bones with me tomorrow. Any chance Hadley can sit here with you guys without being scarred for life by seeing picture of her father?"
"Of course," Cam answered. The women promised Hadley would be safe with them and Booth went to the Hoover to work on the investigation from there.
"It's weird, you know?" Angela said after Booth left.
"What's weird?" Hodgins took his wife's bait.
"They were gonna have a kid. Booth and Brennan. They were gonna make a baby without doing the nasty. They kinda just skipped that part and skipped the baby years and went right to the teenage years."
"Whoa! Do not tell Booth that," Cam advised.
"And don't tell Doctor B that, either. That's a touchy subject, Angie."
"I know! This is going to turn out interesting though, isn't it?" Angela said, a smile spreading across her face.
The next day, with Hadley securely situated in Angela's office away from all things case related, Booth and Bones were headed to the main construction site for Anderson Construction Company, Thomas Kerr's employer. They wanted to talk to the men Kerr worked with closely and the men that were on the co-ed volleyball team Hadley had told them about. They donned their hard hats and Brennan changed from heels to work boots when they arrived at the work site.
The project site manager led them to where Martinez, Cooke, and Schafer worked on lifting a frame for a new wall.
"Al, Zach, George, these people need to talk to you," the site manager told them as he asked them to stop working.
"What's up?" Alberto Martinez asked.
"I'm Special Agent Booth, FBI. This is my partner, Doctor Brennan," Booth introduced them and Brennan cut right to the point.
"Thomas Kerr is dead."
"What?" was the basic response from the men.
"He was murdered. We'd like to ask you a few questions," she continued.
They all nodded and agreed to the questions.
"Whatever you need," Zach Cooke agreed eagerly, "What about Hadley? Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Booth assured, "When's the last time you saw Thomas?"
"Wow, um, gosh, it was probably last week after our volleyball game. He was mackin' on Cindy in the parking lot and we were all giving the two of them shit. But we were happy for him, ya know? I mean, his wife died a long time ago and he hadn't had a girlfriend since," George Schafer said.
"Was anyone mad at him? Did someone have it out for Thomas?" Booth continued.
They shook their heads and the partners received the standard 'everyone-loved-him' story about their victim from Zach and George.
They finished asking questions and let the men get back to their work.
"Something's not right," Booth mumbled as he shoved his notepad into his pocket.
"Is that your gut telling you that?"
"Yes. Something's off. Let's go talk to the women on the volleyball team. They might tell us more."
"Hello! Can I help you?" A perky, skinny brunette greeted Booth and Brennan as they walked into the Anderson Construction offices.
Booth flashed his badge and told her they were looking for Sarah Cooke and Cindy Ellington.
"I'm Cindy," the brunette said, "Sarah's getting coffee. She'll be back soon. What's up?"
They informed her of Thomas' death and let her cry a bit. The woman didn't seem at all concerned about Hadley, which deeply disturbed Brennan. Sarah Cooke returned and she consoled her friend while the partners asked the women some questions.
"Talk to Al. Al probably has something to do with it," Cindy said through her tears.
"Alberto Martinez?" Brennan clarified.
"Al and Cindy used to date. Al was the jealous type. He broke up with Cindy because she talked to other guys too much!" Sarah told them.
"Part of my job description is to give the workers their assignments for the day! I have to talk to all of them!" she cried.
Booth shot Brennan an 'I-told-you-so' look and attempted to soothe the crying woman.