Title: Multiples in the Family
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Bones and Big Love are owned by their relative networks (FOX/HBO) no money is made from the story, unfortunately. I've added a lot of fluff into this chapter, if you are allergic to said fluff, you might want to grab your Epi or a tissue.
Rating: T
Chapter: Suspicions and Subtle Cues.
Her internal clock woke her up to a dark room and another body close to her. The arm that belonged to the other body was under her head like a pillow and warm breath in her face, forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkness to see that the arm belonged to her partner. Brennan sat up slightly and looked at the alarm clock on the other side of Booth to reveal the LED lights that read four.
Booth sighed signaling that she had woke him up, but he didn't open his eyes. "Go back to sleep Bones." He mumbled burying his face into his pillow.
"It's the time I always wake up, Booth." She complained sitting up more fully and letting off a shiver, the early Utah air was chilled even in the dark hotel room.
"Consider it a free pass to sleep in its two hours behind here." He whispered as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame and resting his head on her shoulder.
"I don't have time to sleep in, Booth. I have a mass grave to identify and . . ." She said, but she laid still with her back against his broad chest, lacing her fingers through his at her stomach.
Her intimacy caught him slightly off guard. "It will wait Bones and besides we don't want to wake the kid." She had forgotten about Sweets and why Booth was in her bed in the first place. It was if he could read her mind because he was so close to her and he spoke again. "Cam called him for your consult and he was already here for a wedding or something."
"Oh." She said quietly and smiled before falling to a silence. "I didn't ask for him, what are his qualifications in ritualistic burials. . ."
"Go to sleep, Bones." He whispered and soon his breathing evened out signaling that he had fallen back to sleep. She took a deep breath and she too fell asleep.
~*~
The wakeup call rang at six o'clock Mountain Standard Time and Sweets was first to jump out of bed, and scurry to the bathroom before Booth and Brennan untangled themselves from their arms. Booth sat up slowly, stretching his tired muscles and chuckled. "I'm surprised he made it through the night." He commented on Sweets' rush.
"I'm sure Sweets' bladder is fully developed." She commented, and Booth frowned as he feared that she missed his joke. "Or he stopped drinking liquids after six p.m." The pair shared a laugh as they both wondered to their respective suitcases to grab their things for their turn to the bathroom.
The door opened and the sleep tousled psychologist shot the pair a glare, clearly not enjoying their joke about his age. "My bladder is just fine, thank you." He answered walking back to the table where is things sat in disarray.
Brennan shrugged off his glare before taking her turn in the bathroom and shut the door with a soft click of the latch. Booth sat on his bed and flipped on the TV, settling for the local news before Sweets said anything. "Care to tell me about the case." He said, glancing at traffic report.
Booth explained the case until Brennan came out of the fully dressed, hair curly and barefoot, allowing Sweets to go next. She sat next to Booth on the bed and frowned in the mirror next to him. "What?" He asked, seeing her frown in the reflection.
"I didn't dry my hair last night, now it's a curly mess."She answered, brushing her bangs out of the way. It almost made him chuckled to see how she was dressed in a light blue over shirt and perfect curls down her back compared to his Steelers t-shirt and hair sticking up in every direction and she was complaining about curly hair.
"I kind of like it." Booth complimented, bumping her with his shoulder as a flush of red filled her cheeks. "Now go put your shoes on and go in search of coffee." She smiled and bumped him back before she left in search of breakfast.
~*~
It was another hour before the three left in Sweets' rental car and a call to the other FBI agents that they headed south towards the address of the husband of the dead woman. Sweets drove cautiously on the freeway during rush hour traffic, causing Booth to grumble moodily from the passenger seat and Brennan in the backseat reading over the file.
Booth gave another annoyed sigh as the psychologist merged into the exit lane and a horn honked at the car and made him grip tighter to the wheel nervously. "If you're that nervous, you should let me drive." Booth said after a long silence. "I won't get us killed."
"It ok, I'm just. . ." Sweets started. "I know where we are going."
Another annoyed sigh escaped the agent's lips earning a swift kick in the seat from his partner. "Will you calm down please?" She hissed into his ear.
"Why aren't you pestering him to let you drive?" He retorted, folding his arms like a pouting child.
She ignored him. The rest of the ride was silent as Sweets parked the car on a street in a higher class tree lined neighborhood and the house that matched the address was modest in size with cleanly cut grass and not a leaf out of place on the lawn. Booth was first to get out of the car and took long strides to the door, but waited for the others to catch up before knocking.
The door matched the street, with its small stained glass framing both sides, he reached for the doorbell and pressed the button before stepping back to seem less imposing and waited as the little patter of feet rushing to the door followed by a stern voice telling them to not answer the door and a blonde woman opened the door cautiously. "You guys don't usually travel in threes." She said in a retort. "Look, I'm happy with my religion so you can take your Book of Mormon and put it to someone who will listen."
"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI." He said pulling out his badge, slightly amused that she had confused them with missionaries. It made sense because both men were dressed in suits, but wasn't sure where his partner fit in. "This is my partner Doctor Temperance Brennan and this is Lance Sweets."
"The FBI?" She squeaked. "Please come in pardon the mess, I'm watching my neighbor's children." She stepped aside allowing them entrance as two little blond boys ran past being chased by a darker haired boy, a toddler was asleep in the playpen in the sitting room. "What can I do for the FBI?"
"We are looking for a Nathan Grant." Booth said as they followed her into a sitting room that looked to be from a magazine.
"That's my brother." She said with a frown. "But he has never lived here."
"We found a bracelet that was bought and paid for by him, the address on the credit card that was used was traced back to here." Brennan clarified as the boys ran through the room again, screaming with joy.
"Was the card in his name?" She asked suspiciously and glaring at the direction the boys ran in.
"It was in his name, Ms. . ." Booth answered, but realized that they hadn't gotten the woman's name.
"It's Nikki." She filled in. "Why in my address? Excuse me, but is he in some kind of trouble?"
"We are looking for him in connection to a murder." Booth explained simply, lowering his voice so the boys didn't hear.
"A murder? And you found a bracelet on the scene" She said in a whisper as the boys ran through again and the smallest was crying hysterically, grabbing the blond woman around her legs wanting her attention. "What's wrong honey? Will you excuse me for a moment, I am going to wake up my neighbor and have her come get these guys." She turned on her heels and walked out of the room.
"She looks like those super religious girls that I went to high school with." Sweets commented folding his arms and began to do his profile on the woman. "The conservative hair style and the modest clothes, she stereotypically looks like . . ."
He stopped talking when Booth glared at him and Brennan placed a hand on his arm to defuse the situation. A squeal from the sliding glass door in the kitchen caught their attention as a very pregnant woman waddled into the room. "Oh my god, you're Temperance Brennan," She cried excitedly, Brennan flushed and took her extended hand. "I just love your books."
"Thank you." She said with a smile.
The woman assumed it was opened ended. "Margene, I'm Nikki's neighbor." She pointed to the brunet boy and the toddler. "Those two are mine." She pulled the crying boy from Nikki and gathered him into his arms.
Booth elbowed her motioning for her to help the woman gather the four children. "I could help you." She almost squeaked.
"That would be great." She said excitedly and allowed for the anthropologist to pick up the sleeping child from the play pen, looking for reassurance from her partner and gained a smile from him. The sleeping boy cuddled deeper into her warmth and she stood in awe. Margene came back with the two blonde boys and the brunet boy in her arms. "I've caught all of the munchkins, if you will follow me I will take you next door."
She looked for her partner for reassurance and smiled, following the woman back through the kitchen and out the sliding glass door.
"Won't you please have a seat?" Nikki said motioning to the couches and they both took a seat on the ends of the long couch. "Would you like anything to drink?" Both men shook their head negatively and the woman took her seat on the chair.
"Do you know where we can find your brother?" Asked Booth with a grim smile and pulled out his small notebook.
"I haven't heard from him in a very long time." She answered.
"When was the last time you heard from him?" Sweets asked before Booth could ask.
"I'm not sure, it has been months." She answered again, trying to not get frustrated. Booth watched her closely for signs that she was protecting the man.
"How exactly is he related to you?" Sweets asked and Booth found it to be an odd question, but remained quiet on the couch.
"He is my younger brother." She answered, obviously not bothered by it. Booth watched as Sweets adapted to the question and kept going.
"Do you know anyone named Elisa?" It was Booth's turn to ask the question.
"That is Nathan's wife, what does she has to do with anything? Is she also a suspect in a murder, I mean that woman had her flaws, but not enough to kill anybody." Nikki said. "I mean, she was due to give birth any day now and I doubt she could move let alone kill somebody."
"Elisa was two days ago." Booth said, breaking the news.
The woman paled almost as white as her shirt and she jumped to her feet, pacing in the small quarters of the sitting room. Her eyes started to flow with tears and remained silent. "What about the baby?"
"We think it was kidnapped, the Bureau is looking into hospitals in the valley. We need to know if you know anything about the whereabouts of your brother or if you know anything about the infant." Booth pressed.
"I don't know anything about more." She cried, taking a seat on the chair again and burying her face in her hands. "Last time I heard from Nathan she was only six months pregnant, but I haven't seen him since they were married."
Booth allowed her to calm down before he got to his feet. Pulling out his card, he handed it to the blonde woman. "Will you call us if he contacts you?" He asked.
"Of course." She sniffed. "I'll walk you over to Doctor Brennan."
The two men followed her through the sliding glass door and she pulled open the fence to another massive backyard with a swimming pool surrounded by a fence. A small worn path in the grass led the way to another sliding glass door, where Brennan was sitting on a stool talking animatedly with Margene.
The door slid open and the partners made eye contact that didn't go unnoticed by the shrink. "Are you ready to go?" Booth asked.
Brennan turned to the pregnant woman with a smile. "It was great talking to you, Margene." Brennan said not forcing her sincerity. She got to her feet and stood next to her partner with a smile.
"No, it was my pleasure to talk with you. I just love your work and I just think you are amazing." She boasted in her wide eyed optimism. She lead the trio out the similar front door of the house and watched as they walked to the car parked in front of the next yard, Booth getting into the driver's seat, Brennan taking the passenger and Sweets sat in the back, arms folded and pouting.
He turned the key into the ignition and pulled away from the curb. "Did you find out anything from Nikki?" Brennan asked.
"She says she doesn't know anything, but I'm so sure." Answered Booth.
"That's not what Margene said." Brennan said, gaining a side glance from her partner and Sweets' head peaked through the seats with interest. "Margene was telling me that Nathan Grant showed up on her front porch yesterday, confusing her house with Nikki's house."
"She knows who he is?" Asked Sweets surprised.
"She told me the whole history about him." Brennan said excitedly. "I guess he is what they call a lost boy." She pulled out the file and started to write notes on the paperwork.
"A lost boy?" Booth asked, unsure what Peter Pan had to do with it and was sure she had the term wrong.
"A lost boy is a teenager that is kicked out of the polygamist compound for lack of faith, not willing to marry, premarital sex or other various reasons. I heard that they are infamous for causing trouble down south." Sweets filled in excitedly. "Sex, drugs and rock n'roll, they end up in jail or killed."
"But Nathan Grant came back and pleaded with the prophet Roman Grant to be allowed back into the community two years later. Roman told him that he had to repent and take a wife, a year later he married Elisa." Brennan explained in detail.
"She lied to us." Booth said with a frown. "I will call Hyde and have him pick her up for questioning."
A heavy silence fell upon the car and it wasn't until Sweets spoke five minutes later. "You know what that means, right?" He asked and Booth shook his head motioning him to continue. "I think she's a polygamist, I mean come on the apple doesn't fall far telling from the tree."
"You can't assume everyone from Utah is a polygamist, Sweets. . ."Booth started but was interrupted by Brennan.
"I think it's plausible." She answered, surprising Booth. "Did you see the boys? Their genetic similarities are uncanny, the eye color is the most noticeable, and the definition in the zygomatic bone and the detached earlobes is only a start."
Booth rolled his eyes before Sweets added to it. "I would be willing to put money on the fact that she is Roman Grant's daughter." He added with a smile. "Why else would she lie to the FBI? She is covering for her brother who killed his wife and ran off with the baby."
"That is all conjecture." Booth commented.
Brennan nodded her head in agreement. "We still don't have all the evidence yet and we don't know if the mass grave has anything to do with Nathan or Elisa Grant."
"That would be one hell of a coincidence." Booth commented before pulling into the university parking lot. "We'll be back later after we have a chat with Nikki Grant."
"Call when you're finished?" She asked her smile made her glow and Booth's breath hitch in his throat that went unnoticed by the shrink who had climbed out to sit in the front seat.
"Of course." He said with a smile as she stepped back to allow Sweets to sit and shut the door. He pulled back with one last glance and she took the steps to the entrance of the forensics lab.
