A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed.
Chapter 5: Breaking The Case
Parker watched his rearview mirror closely as he weaved in and out of traffic. Since he had pulled out of the parking lot of the Jeffersonian he felt like he was being followed. Upon closer examination he found that that indeed was the case. The same silver sports car had been trying to discreetly tail him for the last twenty miles or so. The problem was whoever was trying to tail him was an amateur. Keeping an eye on the car was nothing for a guy like Parker.
Halfway to the club Parker got fed up with the guy that was doing such a sloppy job of following him and he pulled over on the side of the road. They were in a rural area and he watched as the car pulled over on the opposite side of the road about half a mile ahead of him.
"Parker what are you doing?" Wendell asked confused he didn't think they were having car trouble but for all he knew Parker had felt something that he hadn't.
"I'll tell you in a minute Wendell. I'm gonna get out of the car now if I'm not back in here in the next ten minutes call for backup." Parker said slipping off his seatbelt and opening the car door.
"What do I tell them if I have to call?" Wendell inquired.
"Just tell them that I went to investigate a silver Mercedes that I thought was following us. Now just hang tight and don't make a sound I should be right back." Parker said getting out of the car he closed the door softly behind him.
He was thankful that he had the cover of woods to slip up beside the car. Years as Recon Marine had taught him how to be stealthy. He quickly and quietly slipped up to the passenger side of the Mercedes. He made sure that the driver didn't see him. He tested the handle and sure enough the door wasn't locked. He didn't know what it was with people not locking their car doors. He didn't take long to consider it because he slipped into the passenger seat and closed the door softly behind him.
He took note that the man in the driver's seat looked as if he had slept in his car. His gray suit was rumpled and he had thick five o'clock shadow. Parker cleared his throat and he watched as the driver jumped.
"How did you get in here?" the driver demanded of him.
"You really should think about locking your doors if you're going to park alone on a stretch of road like this. You never know what kind of crazy people there are out there." Parker said solemnly.
"Just who the hell are you?" the driver asked him hotly.
"I think you know who I am. I really find it troublesome that you didn't know I was in here until I made a noise. You need to be more alert, but then again you were probably too busy watching for my car to come by so you could start tailing me again." Parker mused. He started looking through the glove box to see if he could get the man's identity.
"I don't have any fucking clue who you are other than some crazy fuck. Get the hell out of my papers you can't just do that." The driver replied trying his best to sound baffled.
Parker rifled through some of the documents he had found before speaking again. "No you know damn well who I am and now I know who you are Dave Peterson private investigator. And yes I can do that I can say that I was investigating you on suspicious behavior. As you are well aware I am a federal agent."
"Again I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Dave said again maintaining his innocence.
"Dave let's not play this game I caught you red handed. So I have a message for you to give to your boss. You can tell him or her that if they have something they want to take up with me that they can talk to me themselves instead of having me followed. Now the next time I catch you following me I will arrest you for whatever creative charge I can come up with. Just be sure to deliver my message and drive safely." Parker said getting out of the car. Leaving the older man looking stunned. He was quite proud of himself.
Parker ran the half-mile back to his SUV and got in a smug smile gracing his handsome features. He chuckled to himself and shook his head he had honestly thought that guy was going to shit his pants when he saw him sitting there.
"Parker now are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Wendell asked. He had seen how quickly Parker had made it to the other car and he was very impressed.
"It was nothing I think someone is having me followed by a private investigator but it is no big deal. It's taken care of now I wouldn't be surprised if that guy hung up his magnifying glass for good." Parker replied putting the car in gear and pulling out into the road again.
Wendell just shook his head he didn't even pretend to understand the way the Booth mind worked. They rode the rest of the way to the club in silence.
Parker and Wendell both stepped out of the car when they reached the Inferno Lounge. They made their way to the back of the SUV and pulled on the blue coveralls that all Jeffersonian team members wore. Parker grabbed the ladder out of the back of the car.
"Parker what are we doing here?" Wendell asked as they ducked under the crime scene tape.
"If my hunch is right I will be able to answer that question in just a minute." Parker replied he carried the ladder not to the storeroom but instead to a broom closet. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves before climbing up the ladder and moving a ceiling tile out of the way so he had room to crawl around up there.
"Parker it will be a miracle if you don't fall through the ceiling as old as it is. Maybe I should be the one to go up there." Wendell suggested nervously he could imagine the things that Booth would do to him if he let his son get hurt on his watch. None of the things he was thinking of could be used in the same sentence as legal or humane.
"I'll be fine Wendell don't worry my mom understands that I have a one track mind like she does when I get an idea in my head. Bones will keep my dad from killing you if I hurt myself." Parker assured him and then he held his hand out. "Now if you would be so kind as to give me a flashlight I can begin my investigation."
Wendell handed him a flashlight like he had requested. "Just so long as you're the one who has to deal with a pissed off Booth when you get hurt and not me I don't care what you do."
Parker only laughed in response and pulled himself up into the ceiling. As he began his trek he could feel the tiles sagging underneath his weight. "No wonder they had to replace this shit I swear it's older than my dad and Uncle Jack combined." He muttered.
The beam of the flashlight lit the way for him he couldn't see anything beyond it. But what he could see didn't look pretty there were rodent droppings and dead bugs everywhere. He even spied a dead rat and he did a full body shake as best he could in the confined space. The one and only thing that terrified him were mice and rats. "Uncle Jack would have a field day up here this is a heaven for him." He mused before going on.
The one bad thing about not being able to see more than ten feet in front of his face was he couldn't tell where the ceiling was weak and wouldn't support his weight. Up ahead of him he spied something but he couldn't make it out yet. When he was about a foot away from the object he felt the bottom drop out from underneath him.
"Ow, fuck that hurt like a bitch." Parker yelled out. He was looking up at a huge hole in the ceiling that hadn't been there before he had landed out in the service hallway. It didn't help his discomfort any that two black duffle bags had fallen on top of him and they were somewhat heavy.
"Parker where are you?" Wendell called out to him when he heard him yell.
"I'm out in the hall Wendell and I could use some help here." Parker answered.
Wendell came rushing to him a moment later. "I told you that you were going to get hurt." He gloated.
"Stop being smug Wendell and help me get these damn bags off of me." Parker grumbled.
Wendell moved the duffle bags off of Parker and then he gave him a hand to help him sit up. "Now are you going to tell me what this was all about?" he asked he was tired of being kept in the dark.
"Just give me one second." Parker replied. He opened the lighter of the two duffle bags and his face lit up with a smile like a kid on Christmas morning. "Oh yeah, King of the lab." He announced.
Wendell just shook his head at him in disbelief.
"Angela do you have anything for me yet?" Booth asked the artist impatiently.
Angela gave him a patient smile and shook her head. "Sorry Agent Studly I don't have anything yet I'm still running this reconstruction through all the databases this might take a while."
"I wish I knew what the hell it is that Parker thinks he's onto." Booth grumbled irritably.
"Booth it is important that we let him feel like he is part of the team. If he wants to go off and chase a lead without telling us that's all part of the learning process." Brennan pointed out to her husband logically.
"I just want to know where he gets off calling himself King of the Lab that is my title." Hodgins pouted.
"Hodgie he knows that is the mark of greatness around here and you're only mad because he declared himself king before you did." Angela told him.
Booth was watching the exchange with rapt fascination until his phone went off. "Booth," he answered.
"It's Parker, look I think that Wendell and I have got an ID on the victim we're on our way back to the lab now we should be there within the next ten or fifteen minutes." Parker's response came from the other side of the phone. He sounded excited.
"Just get here when you can. Booth out." Booth said hanging up.
"I take it that was Parker." Brennan guessed.
"Yup, he said he thinks they have an ID on the victim and they should be here soon." Booth replied.
" Maybe they found some useful evidence. I haven't been able to get an exact location on the primary crime scene yet. I have a lot of evidence already but most of it came from the club." Hodgins observed.
"You weren't able to do anything with the evidence that Dr. Wick brought you yesterday?" Brennan asked the entomologist.
"I was able to narrow down the year of death from the soil sample. But that was all I got from it. I'm positive that the victim was around a body of water directly before the time of death." Hodgins reported back.
"I'm afraid that's the best we have to work with until we can get a positive ID on our victim." Brennan said professionally.
"We've solved tougher cases than this before we just have to be patient and pray that Parker found something useful." Angela put her two cents into the conversation.
"For some reason and I guess it's because I'm sane but it really scares me that we're putting this much faith in a junior agent. That being said I know he found something though I could hear it in his voice." Booth said sighing he had no other choice at the moment but to trust his son.
Booth was sitting at the piano in his studio for some reason he was having trouble getting the melody of this new song right. His troubles more than likely had to do with his unspoken attraction to Eli. It seemed that his personal life was spilling over into his professional life.
The young man was so deep in thought that he barely noticed when someone sat down next to him.
"Bug I'm not in the mood for your shit right now so I'm begging you not to start with me I'm trying to work here." Booth said without looking up.
"Booth if you're busy I can always come back later." Eli said meekly she knew she should have knocked before she bothered him.
Booth turned his head and he smiled when he saw Eli sitting there. "No, you stay right where you are maybe now I can get some work done. I just thought that you were my sister, she has a tendency to pester the hell out of me from time to time."
"Booth how does my being present have any bearing on whether or not you get any work done?" Eli asked him more than slightly confused.
"I think better when you're around Gizmo, you're my muse." Booth replied hoping he didn't sound too cheesy.
Eli had to try to calm her racing heart when he gave her a grin. She really had to get a hold on herself. He didn't like her that way and that's all there was to it. she was only going to get hurt if she kept pining away for him. "So, you have a big tour coming up. Are you nervous?" she asked.
"This isn't the first time I've done this Gizmo I don't get nervous anymore. The numbers are already looking good for this. I should have a very good showing. This is the third album and I think it has been received better than the first two." Booth resorted to talking business when he couldn't make sense of his feelings.
"What are you working on now?" Eli asked to keep the flow of conversation going.
"I'm working on the stuff that's going to go on the next album." Booth informed her.
"Like I said I can go if you're busy." Eli repeated herself but she didn't want to do anything of the sort.
"No, I want you to stay I think I'll get something done if you do." Booth said giving her a charming smile.
"Fine I'll stay but I want to hear something spectacular. If I'm your muse then you should be producing great work." Eli relented.
"I think I can do that." Booth agreed he would have said anything to get her to stay. He turned his attention back to the piano now. He started playing and he could hear everything coming together smoothly now. It was a wonder how much easier his work got when she was around. "Quick Gizmo hand me my notebook." He said he didn't want to lose the tune now that he had it.
Eli leaned down and picked his pen and notebook up off the floor before handing it to him. "You really weren't kidding when you said that I was your muse."
"No I wasn't kidding at all. I probably won't be able to get any work done the whole time I'm away from you. But the first leg is only two weeks and then I get to come back here so we'll see." Booth replied.
"If that was your way of saying you're going to miss me, then I'm really going to miss you too." Eli said breathlessly. As they had been talking their faces had slowly inched closer to each other.
"You know that I'm going to miss you." Booth said like she was talking crazy. He was trying to work up the courage to just kiss her.
When their lips were just mere inches from each other Bailey broke the moment by bursting through the door. Booth and Eli jumped away from each other like they had been shot. "Come on you guys are not going to spend all afternoon cooped up in here. It's the summer before our senior year we're going out to have some fun. I will hear no arguments out of either of you about it." she ordered them.
Booth heaved a great sigh his sister had the worst timing in the entire world. "Sure I don't see why not I got more work done today than I thought I was going to."
"Yeah that sounds great." Eli agreed she was more than a little disappointed that Bailey had come in when she had. She thought for sure that Booth was going to make a move at last.
Bailey looked between both of them and shook her head. She knew that she hadn't given them enough alone time. That didn't matter though she would get them together sooner or later. "I'm glad you two agree come on let's get a move on."
"Alright, Parker tell me what you've got." Booth ordered as soon as his son stepped onto the platform.
"Hold that thought just a minute dad." Parker said and then he turned to Wendell. "Wendell hurry up with that other bag. I need you in Aunt Ange's office I'm about to explain myself."
"It's about damn time Parker." Booth said following his son into the artist's office.
Parker sat down at a computer and he put the information he was looking at up on the projector. He was too busy to notice that every Squint who was working the case had made their way into the room.
"Parker I think we would all like an explanation as to why you have been acting like a fool all morning." Cam said with her arms crossed over her chest.
Parker put up his hand in a signal for them to wait just a minute. He pulled a wallet out of the duffle bag he had. "Ladies and gentlemen I can say with almost a hundred percent certainty that our victim is James T. Henderson Sr. late of the D.C police department."
"Parker how could you possibly know that?" Angela asked him.
"Would you guys rather I answer that question or explain my whole thought process to you?" Parker answered with a question of his own.
"I think it would be of more use if you explained your thought process." Brennan told her son.
Parker nodded his acceptance of that. " My temporary insanity started when Aunt Angela finished the reconstruction. I knew that the guy looked like my friend Spud so I pulled up his dossier and sure enough he had a great-grandpa who could pass as his twin brother. So then the name James Henderson got me thinking for some reason it just rang a bell. So I ran it through a search engine. As it turns out an officer by that name went missing in sixty-five."
"Why did you have to go back out to the crime scene?" Hodgins asked.
"Because I had a hunch that if his body was there then his identification would be there too. Sure enough I found that along with his badge, gun, and a uniform. That wasn't the only thing I found though I found a duffle bag full of money." Parker went on and he turned to Wendell. "Show them Wendell."
Wendell unzipped the duffle bag he had and sure enough it was full of bills. "I wouldn't say that found is an accurate term Parker." He corrected the young agent.
"That is neither here nor there right now Wendell." Parker replied.
"How do you explain the money?" Cam inquired.
"Well it proves that my mob theory is right on the money. No pun intended." Parker informed the room.
"Parker I don't know about everyone else but I need you to explain." Daisy said raising her hand sheepishly she didn't like to admit that there was something she didn't understand.
Parker typed something and pulled up a webpage on the screen so everyone could read it. "In sixty-five there was a bank heist and the people who did it were never caught. There were those who thought it was the work of the mob. Detective James Henderson and Officer Mark Simmons caught the case. They spent months working on it without ever getting any closer to who did it. They must have come too close to figuring it out though. Because on the night of May 3, 1965 they went out to investigate a lead and they were never heard from again. In Henderson's case notes they found out that they were looking closely at the Manganelli family for the crime. Police tried but they were never successful in proving that the family had anything to do with the bank robbery or the detective's disappearance."
"Parker and I found Officer Simmons badge and gun in the bag along with everything else." Wendell supplied helpfully.
"What bank was robbed?" Brennan asked.
"It was the First National Bank of D.C. mom so it was a big deal at the time." Parker explained.
"Right I remember now. What does this have to do with your buddy?" Booth asked his son.
"Detective Henderson was Spud's great-grandpa." Parker answered.
"What I don't understand is why we don't have another body." Hodgins said thoughtfully.
"Way ahead of you on that already Uncle Jack. I think that maybe the other body is at the primary scene but we have no clue where the primary scene is. I was hoping that maybe you would be able to get that off of the uniform we found." Parker said.
"If Swanson was the one who did all of this I can't see him pulling this off by himself." Booth was deep in thought his son had just broke the case wide open.
"But he didn't do it all by himself he without a doubt had help. That help came from one Tom Ewing. They were lifelong partners in crime. If you'll notice Swanson and Ewing went missing on the same night as Henderson and Simmons." Parker pointed out.
"Parker do you have anything else to add?" Brennan asked.
"No, but would it be alright if I made a few suggestions?" Parker asked not wanting to appear like he was giving orders.
"Suggest away Agent Booth." Cam said.
"I think that Aunt Angela needs to do age progressions on both Swanson and Ewing they're still out there and at the very least they're guilty of murder if not robbery. Uncle Jack needs to try to find the primary crime scene based on the evidence that I have found. Dad should probably get in contact with the Henderson and Simmons families they need to know what is going on but that can wait. And I was going to see if I could find anything on Swanson and Ewing." Parker suggested.
"I can find no fault in that line of reasoning I think it would be a good idea." Cam said.
"I second that motion. Parker I'll help you dig up dirt on those two scumbags." Booth said.
"I'll be in the lab Wendell you're more than welcome to join me." Hodgins said.
"This may sound like a simple minded question, but what are we going to do about the money?" Daisy asked.
"I would suggest that we hang onto it for now. I don't want the bad guys to know we have it." Parker answered.
"I agree with the rookie. We can use that as a bargaining chip later on." Booth agreed beaming with pride.
"What am I supposed to do while all this is going on? I've finished my examination on the body." Brennan asked slightly amused that her son was giving orders.
"If Uncle Jack can find the primary crime scene you will more than likely have another body. Mom really do what you want again this is just a suggestion but you could go home there is nothing for you to do right now." Parker said giving her a Booth charm smile so he didn't get in trouble for being flip.
"I'll find the primary crime scene don't you worry your head about that little G-Man. But don't ever by guilty of proclaiming yourself king of the lab again." Hodgins said in a serious tone but Parker knew he was joking.
"I am king of the lab right now Uncle Jack. I can't help it that I out did you." Parker grinned at him smugly.
"Hodgins he did it at the crime scene too right after he fell through the ceiling." Wendell told the older scientist.
Parker tried to look contrite when he saw the glare he was getting from his mother. "Now mom you weren't supposed to know about that because Wendell wasn't supposed to tell you. I'm fine there is nothing wrong with me other than the fact I have a huge bruise on my ass and I itch all over because I got into the insulation."
"Parker if you don't mind I would like to check you for broken bones." Brennan said concerned.
"Nothing is broke mom I'm just going to be sore as hell in the morning but I'll be fine." Parker said cracking is neck, which was stiff from the fall.
"Parker I think you need to shower you have no way of knowing what was in the insulation." Brennan told him.
"I don't have time to shower right now mom I have things to do. And I really want to be loose in case Uncle Jack finds the primary crime scene." Parker said dismissing his mother's concerns.
"Parker I have a question for you. Do we know exactly how much money was stolen?" Angela asked.
"It was something to the tune of seventy million dollars. Like I said before it was a huge deal at the time. I don't know how much is in that bag but there may be more at the club or other places. We'll just have to wait and find out." Parker answered shrugging.
"Parker after Hodgins checks the money for trace evidence I will count it so we know what we have. And how much we need to look for." Wendell volunteered.
"Wendell I hate to break this to you but you're not the most accurate counter in the entire world. Daisy would you mind counting it after Wendell counts it?" Parker asked Daisy. This was his payback on Wendell for telling his parents that he fell through the ceiling. He knew that there were only two reasons Wendell and Daisy conversed. The first reason was their son and the second reason was work. Other than that they weren't on very friendly terms.
"I would be very happy to help you Parker." Daisy said giving him a smile. Parker rolled his eyes he sure felt bad for poor Wendell but paybacks were a bitch.
"Everyone has things to do now I would strongly suggest you do them." Cam said she wanted to get this case solved before it got more complicated than it already was.
"Wendell I realize that you're very busy counting right now but I would really like it if you would come take a look at this soil sample." Hodgins said calling the younger doctor over to him.
Wendell walked over to the microscope and looked at the sample Hodgins had under there. "I'm seeing it I just don't know what is supposed to be special about it." he said it looked like regular soil from around a lake to him.
"What does it look like to you Wendell?" Hodgins asked patiently.
"Well it looks to me like a soil sample that comes from around a lake." Wendell ventured he was a jack-of-all-trades in the lab so he didn't know as much about some things as Hodgins did.
"That is almost right Wendell. Actually that came from around a river, given the bugs that we found on the body that makes sense." Hodgins pronounced solemnly.
"So what does that mean for the case?" Wendell asked.
"Well this particular soil sample comes from Virginia, not only that but it comes from the Shenandoah River. What we're probably looking for is property situated on that river." Hodgins reported.
"So it would probably be wise to have Booth and Parker to check if Swanson of Ewing had any property on that river." Wendell supplied.
"My thoughts exactly. But we know that Swanson was only twenty and Ewing couldn't have been much older than that. So I think it would be better to check and see if their parents had any property." Hodgins agreed to a degree.
"I'm not disagreeing but I'm just saying that at twenty Parker could have owned property, Bug could now, and so could Booth." Wendell pointed out.
"Those three are the exception not the rule. Parker sits on the board for Cantilever and so does Bug, Booth has his own money." Hodgins replied.
"Hodgins if you want I'll go tell Parker and Booth about this. Daisy is rechecking my count of the first stack as we speak." Wendell offered he really didn't want to be left alone with Daisy.
"Wendell how when you counted what did you come up with?" Daisy asked before Hodgins had a chance to reply.
"When I counted I came up with fifteen million." Wendell replied fighting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Your tally was correct then because that is what I came up with." Daisy informed him.
"Good then we're done with that." Wendell said sounding relieved.
"While we have a minute Wendell I need to talk to you." Daisy said.
"About what Daisy?" Wendell asked sighing. The worst thing he had ever done was to get drunk and have sex with her. But he wouldn't trade his son for anything in the world.
"I need you to keep Dalton next week because I have a conference at the University of Texas. They had this big find and they asked me to come consult." Daisy told him.
"Fine but Dalton's going to be upset you promised him." Wendell reminded her. He had their son more than she did because she was so focused on her career. He often thought that she would have learned from that when it cost her Sweets. Hodgins sensing that those two were going to get into one of their heated arguments left the room.
"Dalton will understand he always does. Besides Wendell he's tweleve he much rather be with his friends than hang out with his mom." Daisy reasoned with him.
"Daisy he has seen you maybe four times in the last six months." Wendell said arching an eyebrow.
"I've been really busy lately Wendell I can't help that." Daisy said and she didn't sound repentant in the least.
"Daisy if you cancel on him again I don't know that I'll be able to get him to see you." Wendell apprised her of the risk she was taking.
"Wendell I'll make it up to him I always do." Daisy pointed out.
Wendell shrugged he had to admit that if Daisy had to cancel on their son she did always make it up to him as soon as she could. "I know but he misses you more than he's willing to admit."
"I miss him too but I have been swamped with work. I promise that my schedule is about to get a lot less busy so I'll have more time." Daisy swore to him.
" I was just simply telling you how it is Daisy I wasn't trying to make you feel bad." Wendell sighed he hated that she made him feel like a jerk for telling her the truth. She was supposed to be the one who felt guilty and yet she always managed to turn the tables on him.
"King of the lab." Hodgins proclaimed as he walked into Angela's office. Angela was working diligently at the Angelator and she looked up at him with a wisp of annoyance playing across her face. Both Booths had been immersed in the files they were looking at but they both brought their eyes up to glance at Hodgins before returning back to the more pressing matter at hand. "I thought that would have at least gotten a response out of one of you. If for no other reason than to see what that whack job Hodgins is up to this time." He pouted when he didn't get the response that he wanted.
"Uncle Jack now is not the time. If I weren't so busy I would be ready to go toe to toe with you right now. I'm sure that with that proclamation however that you have something good to add." Parker said without looking up again.
"Dirt Boy I think you just got told by your little G-Man." Booth said and Hodgins could tell his friend was being smug without him looking up.
Hodgins rolled his eyes but he didn't respond to Booth's comment. "I got a soil sample off of that uniform that you brought in. I don't have an exact location but I'm pretty fuckin' close. You're looking for something on the Shenandoah River right over the state line into Virginia. So you might want to check their records and see if either one of them had any holdings on or close to the river."
Parker stopped going through papers mid-shuffle and started flipping through files like he had lost his mind. He quickly found what he was looking for. "Times like these I thank God for every time a drill instructor made me do a pushup when I couldn't remember something." He announced waving a piece of paper around.
"What exactly is that?" Booth asked his son. He was going to have to take time to adjust to his rather loud eureka moments.
"Tom Ewing's parents owned a cabin on the river just across the state line. After his parents' deaths it reverted to his sister since no one knew what happened to him." Parker explained.
"I say we need a warrant then." Booth said thoughtfully and then he turned to Hodgins. "You're positive that this is the primary scene?" he asked just to be sure.
"I'm more than positive that this is the primary." Hodgins said definitively.
Booth groaned. "Alright rookie get together what you think you're going to need for this trip. I will go sweet talk Miss Caroline into giving us a warrant. Next time you do it but just this once I'm going to bite the bullet for you." he patted Parker on the back before he walked out of the room to make his phone call.
Angela smiled at Parker once Booth had left the room. "Parker he isn't going to admit it yet because he is still mad at you for lying to him but he's really proud of you right now. Not many agents fresh out of G-Man school would be able to do what you just did."
Parker blushed in embarrassment "It's nothing really Aunt Ange. Besides that I've had help if it wasn't for Uncle Jack we wouldn't even know where to look." He said modestly.
Jack shook his head at Parker. "I wouldn't have had the evidence to test if it wasn't for you figuring things out the way you did. You are a pretty smart cookie little G-Man."
"Thanks Uncle Jack. And to change the subject I caught a private investigator following me today. I know that you haven't had time to set up security on me yet so when I saw him following me I confronted him. I don't know why he's following me or who hired him and that's the part that has me more than slightly worried. The things I did in the Marines taught me to be wary when I don't know what someone's intentions are. I'm pretty sure this guy was harmless because he about shit his pants when I got in the car with him." Parker explained while his dad was out of the room. He didn't want Booth to be worried about him when there might not be a reason for him to worry.
Hodgins shook his head and sighed he knew not to even be surprised by anything that Parker did. " Did you get a name?" he asked.
Parker gave him a rueful grin. "Of course I did Uncle Jack I don't know what kind of special operator you think I am. His name was Dave Peterson."
"I'll have my guys look into it and see if they can't find out who he's working for and why. I'm sure that it's nothing we should be worried about. But when it comes to you we never can be too careful." Hodgins said he was aware that Parker had done things that were covert in nature when he had been a marine and there was no telling if there was someone watching him to exact revenge. It also didn't help that he sat on the Cantilever board and that opened him up to attack too.
"Uncle Jack I can see the wheels turning and I know what you're thinking right now. But trust me this guy was no pro a half blind grandma could have saw him following her in a snow storm. I would hope that if this had something to do with either my exploits or Cantilever that they would have the resources to get a decent tail on me. I really have a feeling that this is more something that is going to get on my nerves than do me physical harm." Parker assured him he loved how Jack worried about him but this time he was fine.
The subject was dropped when Booth walked back into the room. He gave Parker the thumbs up. "We got the warrant Miss Caroline is going to send it over here. I need you to wait for it while I go help your mom gather her stuff. Bug Man I'm going to need you to roll on this too, and while you're at it tell Wendell to get his shit together. Angela you just keep working on those reconstructions we're going to need them."
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Parker was waiting on the platform for whoever was going to bring the warrant. When he saw who the messenger was he went weak in the knees and almost fell down right then and there. He knew that it wasn't possible but he could almost feel his heart thumping against his ribcage as if it were straining to get out of his chest.
"Parker I should have known that you were connected to this in some way." Belle greeted him. He wanted to get lost in her hypnotic blue eyes and he loved basking in the warmth of smile. To him it was better than lounging in the sun.
"Well you know me I'm going to be right in the middle of the action. I can't help myself I excel in this type of environment." Parker replied somewhat lamely.
"I know that full well Booth, I always knew that when something was going on that I should look for you in the middle of the crowd. And I'm not even going to mention the wrestling matches between you and Lex that used to go on when we all lived together in that house." Belle said trying hard not to sound like she was down.
Parker gave her one of his charm smiles. "Now Belle you know that those were some pretty good times. Lex always started it, it wasn't my fault that I had to defend myself."
Belle felt herself melt under the heat that his smile generated. "Well Amy and I enjoyed the hell out of pulling you two apart all the time it was great fun for us." She countered him.
"You guys knew that Lex and I would never hurt each other that is just the kind of relationship that we have. We act like we want to kill each other but deep down we love each other." Parker grinned innocently.
"By the way I talked to Amy and she said Lex is going to kick your ass for coming home without telling anyone." Belle smiled at him smugly.
"That is a two way street I'm going to kick Lex's ass for not telling me that you were here." Parker replied.
"Lex didn't tell you because I didn't want you to know. Knowing you the way I do it was entirely possible that you would show up here and try to win me back. I wasn't ready to face you then." Belle explained to him quickly.
Parker cocked his head to the side and he nodded. "I understand," he said sighing a little. "So do you have my warrant?" he asked trying to sound upbeat.
"Oh, no I was told that you are the last person in the world that I'm allowed to give this warrant to. Miss Caroline told me not to make the mistake of giving this to some baby agent even when said agent is Parker Booth who is every bit as charming as his father and twice as good looking." Belle said trying to keep the tone light.
"I just don't think I can hear Miss Caroline saying anything like that about me. I think you made that up." Parker teased his brown eyes sparkling with mirth.
"Parker, we're ready to go, did you get that warrant yet?" Booth called as he and the Squints came walking across the platform.
"No apparently I'm too green to be trusted with a warrant Miss Caroline sent strict orders not to leave it with me." Parker joked trying hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice. But he realized that had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with his past with Belle.
"Belle can I have the warrant pretty please?" Booth asked giving her one of his charm smiles.
Belle handed the warrant over to Booth. "There you go Agent Booth. And I am supposed to tell you that Parker is your pet and you need to keep him on a leash. Miss Caroline said that she wants a nice easy to prosecute case. She doesn't want to have to clean up after a pup that is barely housebroken."
Parker felt his ears go red with anger he knew that this was Belle pushing his buttons Miss Caroline wouldn't have said that about him. "Really because I find it odd that she is trusting someone who is younger than I am to deliver her warrants."
"Parker now is not the time for you to try to defend your honor against a perceived insult we have work to do." Brennan reminded her son.
"Yeah we should just go." Parker said shooting a frosty look at Belle as he walked off the platform. He wanted to get this case over with they were just two days in and it was taking its toll already.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this. Sorry it took so long to get it out. Until Next time please review.