"Your handwriting. The way you walk. Which china pattern you choose. It's all giving you away.
Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a diary."
~ Chuck Palahniuk (Diary)
Chapter Twelve: Undercover of the Night
Booth scanned through the baseball scores on his phone as he wandered into the living room of the Woods' residence, only looking up when he was greeted with a warning growl at his feet. Looking down, he sighed in exasperation.
"Vonnegut, what are you doing here, you stupid mutt?" Booth reached down to scratch the labradoodle's head, but drew back quickly when the dog growled at him again, snarl making his upper lip curl.
"It's because you're wearing your gun, Booth. He hates guns, he's a pacifist."
Booth looked at Penelope, stretched comfortably out on the sofa, with something close to shock. "Miss Penelope, what are you doing here? This is supposed to be a secure location…"
Penny grinned at Booth's irritation and sat up. "Lance asked Agent Blanc if it would be okay for me to be here, and since it was pointed out to him that he was already indiscreet enough to spill the beginning of this whole mess while I was sitting there at the table, he couldn't exactly argue."
"Fabulous." Booth sighed in resignation and flopped down next to her on the sofa. "The more the merrier, I always say."
"Oh come on, Booth." She nudged his leg with her knee. "You know you're happy to see me. Besides…I saw there was chess set in the den…what do you say?"
He raised an eyebrow in interest. "You in the mood to be humiliated, Pen?"
"Oooh. That sounded like a challenge, Director Booth." Penny laughed and stood, head tilted towards the door. "Come on, I might even let you win this time."
"Pssht." Booth scoffed. "You are so dead."
"Yeah, yeah…promises, promises."
B&B
As the evening wore on, Cam found herself getting restless and wandering around the expansive brownstone, trying to avoid the private conversations that seemed to be occurring around every corner.
As she made her way out of the living room, she slowly approached the study where she knew Gus had set up his command center for the investigation. The door was slightly ajar so she peeked her head in and asked, "And what goes on in here?"
Gus looked up from the desk and smiled, "Phone calls. All I've been doing is making phone calls. Please come in."
"You missed all the excitement earlier." Cam informed him as she entered the room.
"What happened?"
She shrugged, "Booth and Charlie finally had the words that we've all known were coming. I think it was a good thing."
Gus stood from the desk in full protective mode, "Is she ok?"
"She's fine. No need to worry." Cam assured him as she looked over the pictures arranged on the bookcases, "I'm actually impressed at how well she's holding up. I couldn't imagine going through this."
"Charlie is no wilting flower."
Cam smiled and nodded in agreement, "Kinda what we need in a First Lady, huh?"
"Absolutely."
She picked up a picture and tilted her head as she looked at it, "You were in their wedding party?"
He nodded, "Yes, I was."
"That's unusual."
Rubbing the back of his neck he approached her and took the frame from her and looked it over, melancholy leeching from his pores, "Since I've been the head of this detail, the Speaker and I have become quite close."
"I have to ask, how did you end up here? When we first met I assumed that you were a pretty important guy, this hardly seems like a worthy assignment for you."
Gus put the picture back where it belonged and sat on the couch that had been his bed for the past five days, "I was second in command for President Bush's protective detail. It was a position that consumed all aspects of my life. Meaning, I didn't have one."
She followed him over to the couch and sat, "I can see that."
"So, when the administration changed, when he left office, I decided that I wanted a position that was more low profile, more relaxed in the hopes that I could try and have a life so…" He chuckled as he shook his head, "I was assigned to Woods and it was everything I wanted until-"
Cam nodded with a grin, "Charlotte showed up?"
"Precisely…The second the press got one look at her at a state dinner, my job became nearly impossible. They put the two of them through hell with the names and the 'exposes' about her past which were all false. It infuriated Clay and put her in a fairly dangerous position. You know her, she's nothing like they painted her out to be."
Cam knew exactly what he meant, it had been hard to avoid the publicity that Charlotte and Clay had received in the last two years, "That's a problem with our society - beautiful women are rarely taken seriously."
"All I know is that the day I met you, five years ago, I took you very seriously."
Cam blushed and smiled shyly, "Thank you."
"You're very welcome." They shared a look fraught with chemistry before Gus remembered himself and cleared his throat, "Anyway…After the wedding we received all the stalker info and this…" He raised his arms and gestured to the home he was in, "This became my life."
"Eh, best laid plans and all that." Cam smiled as she leaned closer to him and dropped her voice, "What are they really like?"
Gus shrugged, "I have no complaints."
"You're paid to say that." She narrowed her eyes on him, "I want to know the truth. I've seen the People magazine covers with them beaming and looking damn near perfect. They aren't really, are they?"
"Pictures don't lie, at least with them." He leaned back into the sofa, "Normally, when I am assigned to a protection detail, I disappear into the background. Unless you're looking for me, or I'm needed for something, I'm not there. But with the Clay and then Charlie, I was never background to them...I was instantly part of their inner circle." He glanced over at Cam and was surprised at how intently she was listening to him. "They're good people. They don't deserve this."
"What about the rumor that he just called CNN and said he wanted her? Is that true?"
Gus rolled his eyes, "Yes and no. It is true but it's not as seedy as it sounds. He saw her on TV and he was captivated by her. It took him four months to work up the nerve to make the call. And that was only after I pestered him into doing it."
Cam cocked a brow his way, "I find that hard to believe. I've seen him on CSPAN, the man practically oozes charisma."
"In his public life sure but behind closed doors Woods is….he's different. His first wife died when he was first elected and he didn't date much after. A few fix-ups by friends for important events but nothing serious."
"That's…It's kinda sweet and a little sad."
He smiled as he stroked his chin, "Charlie changed everything. The difference was night and day."
"And that's why you're so protective of her."
"And why I brought you guys in. It had nothing to do with her previous relationship with Booth, honestly it didn't... I needed the best."
Cam smiled with pride, "Well, that's what you got."
B&B
"So…" Hodgins began, plopping down at the dining room table with Penelope, who was sitting back with Brennan's latest novel, reading intently. "How did you rate a spot in the illustrious Woods' abode?"
"Oh, Charlie likes Lance. She went to bat for him. They've…bonded." Penny smiled, letting her amusement of the situation show. "I think it's cute."
"Yeah…cute." Jack rolled his eyes. "You think everything is cute."
"Not really. I don't think Booth is cute. Or your haircut."
"Hey!"
"Just sayin'…you should let it grow out again. I liked the curly look. Not too curly, mind you. No need to be rockin' the white boy fro. You aren't cool enough to pull it off."
Hodgins shook his head, amused. He was used to Sweets' girlfriend giving him a hard time…Penny gave everyone a hard time, really. Jack figured it stemmed from her need to protect Sweets with offensive rather than defensive teasing so as to offset their teasing of her boyfriend. And he loved that she cared enough about his friend to bother.
"I've been thinking about this whole big mystery. Who it could be…who it probably isn't…it's got my mind racing." Jack leaned back and raised his eyebrows. "Very interesting."
"Yeah." Penny set the book down and leaned forward, sensing one of Jack's crazy talks was getting ready to commence. And she couldn't resist it when he skirted the deep end with the conspiracy talk, no matter how far off the rails he wandered. "You having any thoughts there, Dr. Hodgins? Anyone specific?"
Hodgins took the bait. "Well, of course you have to consider Booth as a suspect."
"Of course." She replied as if it made perfect sense.
"I mean, he was involved with the victim's wife, and he is a former Special Forces man…he could pull it off."
"Sure, sure. Except for the fact that when Woods disappeared, Booth and Brennan were on their way home from Ireland."
Hodgins nodded. "Yeah, there is that."
"And no man who looks that good has to stalk anyone. Women generally fall at his feet."
"I thought you said you didn't think Booth was cute?"
"I don't. Sexy, yes. Hot, definitely. Cute…nah."
"Don't let Brennan hear you say that."
"I've told her how smoking hot her husband is. She agreed." Penny shrugged. "But personally? I like tall and lanky, not muscled."
"Obviously."
"So…any other suspects, Jack?"
"Well, there's always the CIA….FBI…any one of a dozen covert black ops organizations that operate inside the government undetected."
"You don't think this has anything to do with the stalker, then?"
"I'm just talking…"
"Yeah, talking out your-"
Hodgins growled. "Hey! Be nice, woman. Nothing wrong with harmless speculation. It keeps your brain in shape."
"I'll never understand geniuses I'm not sleeping with."
"Angela says the same thing all the time."
"Smart woman." Penny replied.
Hodgins rubbed his hand across his mouth, deep in thought, "And of course…it's possible the RNC has captured Clay and sequestered him until after the elections."
"You mean the 2016 elections? Two years from now?" Penny laughed.
"Hey, you never know!" Hodgins got defensive. "Those Republicans…they're sneaky. I mean, think about it…no one would suspect them of kidnapping the most logical choice for the Democratic nomination two years ahead of time…it's the perfect deflection!" Jack bounced on his chair, warming up to the idea.
"Your parents weren't brother and sister by any chance, were they?"
B&B
Much later in the night, after another long, exhausting day the team broke off separately to bed down for the night. Angela and Hodgins settled in the attic guest room, Sweets and Penelope were on the second floor and Booth and Brennan were given the second largest bedroom off the living room so Booth could be close in case anything came up. But once the house was finally quiet, Booth found himself unable to sleep. He slowly rolled over, kissed Brennan on the head and pulled himself out of the bed. He made his way into the living room and found Charlie sitting on the floor in the living room, surrounded by scattered papers, her old work diaries and personal journals.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.
Never taking her eyes off the white board she had moved from the kitchen into the living room, the one with Sweets' notes on the case , she quietly explained, "The letters…Crimson and Clover…" She turned to look at him and he saw a type of fear in her eyes that caused the hair on his neck to stand up, "He wasn't just following me, keeping tabs on me, he was watching me...For four years..."
August 29, 2011 1:40AM Washington, DC
Another long night with Arcilla. Late dinner, during which they barely ate and couldn't stop touching each other.
I am disgusted by the changes I see in her and I know it's his fault. I see him wanting her to be something she is not.
I love to see her smiling so much but she's smiling for all the wrong reasons. I watched as he walked her into the hotel and left shortly after. And then…
She stood alone on her balcony and cried. And then she laughed. This went on for nearly 20 minutes. Nothing should ever make her cry.