9CHAPTERNINE
"Where are we even going?" Temperance spoke up in slight annoyance as she sat in the passenger seat of Booth's SUV.
She had already asked Booth to drive, the 'norm' for them, but once again he had declined (or more so let out a primal grunt in response) and the matter was dropped. Usually Temperance would have continued pestering him, but she knew better. Everyone was stressed, and when Booth was stressed it was best to stay quiet. Temperance was a smart woman, but she also was a stubborn one, and she didn't enjoy not being given the facts. She liked the facts. They were solid.
"Just what I said back at the lab, Bones. An interview." Booth said almost robotically, his eyes focused on the road.
A silence fell between the two, and Seeley found that he didn't like it, especially with Temperance. His dark eyes glanced toward the anthropologist only to find her staring at him with innocent eyes that caused a little twinge in his chest. A smart as she was with things of an intellectual nature Temperance Brennan always seemed locked in a state of confusion when it came to social situations that everyone else would know automatically. Was she blessed or cursed? In his split second study of her he noticed an almost pout, and turned his stubborn eyes back on the road.
"Don't have that 'sad little girl' look on your face." Agent Booth warned quietly to a point where his voice was so low and quiet that it rumbled and became caught in his throat. Another quiet fell on the two partners and Booth could feel her eyes still on him. He hated that. He was a sniper and could go against the most evil of people without a quiver but when she had her unwavering focus on him like that... He just got nervous.
"Angela got a hit on the victim in the system. A Daniel Alderson." Temperance noticed Booth's fingers tighten around the steering wheel as he spoke. "Fourteen years old. He lived in the area with his single mother so we're going to speak to her." A heavy sigh escaped the agent's lips and he squeezed the wheel once again.
And yet another silence. Had they ever been this uncomfortable before? All of the stress wasn't just affecting Temperance's team but now her partnership! Usually Temperance loved the mystery, the bones, the bodies, but not if they were messing with her routine! Her slender fingers ran over her dress pants legs.
"She's going to cry you know." Doctor Brennan broke the silence, looking back at her partner with eyes and a brain that held all the knowledge in the world. She had the ability to shut herself off to anything, it sometimes threw her for a loop when others couldn't do the same. "If she doesn't know. That'll make it very difficult to get information in a timely fashion." She justified her prior comment rather quickly when she saw Booth sit upright, going a bit ridged at her choice of words until she explained.
"Officers are at her place now. They were there once we knew who it was." Booth explained, taking a turn down a quaint little street with a large apartment complex on the left.
Police cars and vehicles belonging to loved ones crowded the parking lot. It was quite apparent that this is where the mother resided, and you didn't need to be a genius to see that. Flashing lights of cop cars right in the middle of the day. Add this with the number of journalists whom were questioning everyone that they could get to, it was clear someone had let the cat out of the bag. As she and Booth climbed out of the car Temperance Brennan couldn't help but wonder if the killer, whoever was doing this, read his/her own publicity.
"It's interesting how people's behavior when it comes to crime depends on number." Bones frowned, her eyes following as people moved back and forth. A few crying faces, some tissues being handed back and forth along with microphones being shoved in the tearful people's faces.
"What do you mean?" Booth asked as he strode through the groups of people, flashing his badge as he and Temperance passed by a few officers and moved up the stairs of the apartment.
Now in the stairwell the two hurried up a flight of stairs, their footsteps echoing as they hustled. "One person dies, no one hears about it. Kill more than two, everyone crowds the area. Very barbaric." Bones finished, only to have a two officers hurry past nearly smacking into her if it wasn't for Seeley's hand pulling her close.
"Watch out!" Booth warned her, pulling her close at the top step, keeping her from falling. Oddly enough, from the near collision Booth seemed more shaken than Temperance, which was evident by her looking over her shoulder at him, eying him.
"What?" Booth exclaimed as though he was being accused of something. Still he held onto the woman like he had forgotten to let go, something Temperance remedied by stepping away and to the apartment with the open door and people filtering in and out, Booth standing in the stairwell still. "It's my job to protect you!" He called after her defensively, only to be ignored, and cursing under his breath he jogged into the apartment after her.
Everything was exactly what Booth expected. The formalities were said, he offered his condolences (and Bones' as she never did herself), and he did what he did best by softening the blow of needing to question her in private. So there they now sat, in the living room. A skinny, blond haired woman in a light blue zip up sweater, her nose red from the sniffles from crying so much. But could anyone blame her? She lost her son. No husband, no other children, no one. She only had her boy.
That thought hovered on Booth's shoulders as he sat across from the woman, hands folded in front of himself as he took in a slow inhaling breath. "Miss Alderson, when was the last time you saw your son?"
"Six days ago." Miss Alderson used her tissue free hand to brush her blond hair behind her ears, snorting loudly again, tears clinging to her pink cheeks. "We were at the mall getting this video game he's been wanting... Wanted... For ages." Even correcting herself was painful. It was all so new, and not the good kind. "I finally had enough money to buy it for him.. For his good report card." Lifting the tissue to her face she gave a loud blow which caused Temperance to wince and she occupied herself looking at the picture frames on the book shelf.
So many pictures of the boy on her slab in the lab alive and happy. Smiling. Kissing his mom on the cheek, waving, being happy. That was something you never saw with their decomposed bodies on the slab. All you saw was flesh and bone, not the heart... In the metaphorical sense of course.
"The report said you saw him leaving with a man?" Booth inquired.
"I didn't. A security guard did." Miss Alderson shook her head, obviously so lost and unsure of how to cope. "The police have his contact information... He gave it to them when we thought we could still find..." She had to start again when she felt her throat strain, unable to get the words out. "When we thought we could find Danny." More tears streaked down her cheeks and there was no getting anymore words out of her.
Booth felt like his heart weighed 200 pounds in his chest, and in a gesture of comfort, reached out his hand and gave the woman's lower leg a squeeze. He practically had to force himself to stand, and him and Temperance exited the apartment as the woman was comforted by another officer.
Moving down the stairwell, Bones found herself unable to keep quiet, though Booth seemed to be having an easy time of it. "Thinking of Parker?"
"No... I wasn't.. Until now.. When you brought it up." Booth sighed, not annoyed, but he certainly wasn't thrilled. Not after what was piling up for them to deal with.
"We'll pick up the mall cop on the way, have Angela do a sketch." The two crossed the parking lot and Booth fished the keys out of his black pants pockets opening the drivers seat passenger door and pressing the button that allowed Bones to open her own door and slide in.
Now situated in his seat, Booth did not reach to start the engine of the car, instead he sunk into the leather seat, her shoulders sinking as he stared out into nothingness. "It's not easy Bones."
"What?" Bones turned her head to look at her partner.
"Being a single parent. Raising a kid." Yet another heavy sigh. This had been a rough day for the agent. "I can only imagine how hard it is losing one."
Silence was becoming more and more frequent with the two partners and Bones was still learning to deal with that... Until... A light bulb went off in her head. Why hadn't she thought of it before?!
"Booth." She sat up on her seat, her back away from the backrest. "He's been missing a week."
Booth turned to look at her, a bit surprised and confused as he often was with the great Doctor Temperance Brennan. "Huh?"
"He's been missing a week but the condition of the body, he's only been dead a few hours!" She explained, it was hard to hide the excitement in her voice at this new amount of information that she held. Booth's jaw could only gape as Temperance uttered the new facts to add to their pool of information.
"He holds them."