I don't own Bones and the password for the computer was flipping from letters and numbers with the Caesar code.
Chapter Two
Connor nearly peed his pants. The man in the suit looked straight at the bush he was hiding under. Good God, they were going to find his fingerprints and put them in the system and find him because he's been in and out of foster care and they took his prints. He was so screwed. That dead guy had to be Sherlock. He could have done anything to stop the bad guys but he didn't. He had Sherlock's blood on his hands.
When the CSI people left, Connor crawled to his exit and forced himself to walk. He was on the street behind Baker Street and kept walking. He had to act like a normal kid or else he'd be questioned and they'd find out and put him in jail for not doing anything. He had to avenge Sherlock but how. He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't realize he was walking right towards the cops.
"Excuse me," said one officer. Connor nearly fainted when he looked up. It was the tan man with brown hair. He forced himself to smile and say, "Yes officer?"
"I was wondering if you had seen or had heard anything suspicious lately. Any cars or people you don't recognize. Any strange noises," the officer asked.
"No sir," he said politely, "I don't pay attention to that sort of thing."
The officer smiled indulgently and asked where he was heading. Connor said, "To my friend Derek's house. He got a puppy and we're going to teach it tricks. It's a golden doodle since his little sister is allergic to dogs but she loves him. They named him Rex. Derek wanted to name him Godzilla but his parents wouldn't let him."
"Sounds like fun," the officer said. Connor nodded and tried to move past them. "Oh kid," the officer called back to him.
"Yeah?" he turned around and asked. Did he recognize him? No, that was impossible. He couldn't have seen him last night.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Jake Smith," Connor lied.
"Okay. Behave yourself, Mr. Smith and stay away from Baker Street," the officer said.
"What happened on Baker Street?" he asked. The officer paused as if he was deciding whether or not to tell him what had happened from the police's viewpoint and if it'd give him nightmares. Bit late for that he thought bitterly.
"Just a minor disturbance, young man. Nothing to get bent out of shape about," the officer said.
"Jones!" yelled a fellow officer. The officer named Jones nodded to Connor, as if he was dismissing him, and walked towards his colleague. Connor walked away. Any chance of turning Sherlock's computer over to the police just vanished. If one of them found it and was helping Jones, he'd tell him who handed it over to police and they'd kill him like they killed Sherlock. Who'd help him? He felt like he was going to throw up when he realized he was all alone.
XXX
"We have confirmed it was your father. We are sorry for your loss," an officer named Jones had told them. Hailey was hugging her younger stepbrother Matt. He was eleven and she was fourteen. Matt was a crying wreck while she was a stony wall of silence. They couldn't bear to answer questions like did your father have any enemies and things similar to their nature. It was as if they were blaming her stepfather for his death. He was a good man. A bit of a holier than thou, but he was still a good guy. He made good money as a part time accountant but he loved doing his PI work.
Hailey's mother Rita died in 2009, four years ago. When Rita married Steve, she was five and Matt was two. She was the flower girl and he was the ring bearer. Unfortunately, Rita and Steve couldn't have any more kids and were content with Hailey and Matt. Matt was Steve's nephew that his father didn't want and his mother couldn't take care of him. He had auburn hair and blue eyes. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes; a night to her mother's day. Her mother was a blonde hair, blue eyed gal who thought it was funny she had a daughter who looked nothing like her. Her dad died in Iraq when she was two and a half so she didn't remember him. Mom didn't keep any pictures of him. It hurt her too much but she had a wonderful daughter who possessed his best qualities so she didn't hurt her mother like pictures had apparently.
"Do you know about your father's habits as a private investigator?" asked an FBI agent. She had already forgotten his name.
"He usually caught cheating spouses, fraudulent practices, and copyright stuff," she said.
"Yeah," agreed Matt.
"Did you know if he kept any contact with old clients? Or did he make any enemies out of the cheating spouses he caught?" the agent pressed.
"I don't know," she said irritably.
"Do you know how he got his information?" the woman who came with him asked.
"He usually went out in his car and did surveillance and reconnaissance," she said.
"And his moles," Matt added on.
"His moles," Hailey said, "He'd give some money or food to guys he could get reliable information out of. They had some mutual respect thing going on. I really don't know. He didn't like sharing with us unless he closed the case."
"Wait," Matt sat up in his chair, "What about his big break?"
"Oh yeah," Hailey agreed, remembering her stepfather's devotion to his big breakout story, "He didn't tell us but he was always writing stuff in his notebook and typing it down on his laptop."
"His laptop?" the agent asked.
"Yeah. It was a silver laptop. I forgot the brand though," Matt said.
"His notebook was a green composition book," Hailey added.
"We don't have a laptop on the inventory list," the agent said slowly.
"And no notebook either," the woman added.
"Whoever killed him must have stolen it," Hailey felt hot tears prickling her eyes and she blinked them back. She couldn't believe it. His big break is what killed him.
"Don't worry," the agent said earnestly, "I swear on my life that we will find the person who killed your father." Hailey nodded and Matt wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back. The agent looked sincere. She really hoped he found the bastard who killed her father and kicked his ass.
XXX
"Those poor kids," Booth said.
"If you want, I could go talk to them," Sweets offered, "Maybe they know more than they think."
"I gave them my card if they thought of anything else," Booth said. He didn't like this case. Two poor, innocent kids were orphaned. At least they still had their grandmother living in the area. His phone rang and he answered. He nodded and hung up.
"What's happening?" Sweets asked.
"Angela was monitoring his accounts for any signs of threats against Steve Barton and his email just sent off a mass email. She's tracking it as we speak," Booth said and he got into the elevator.
XXX
"We have a problem," Adam Jones said to his partner, Tobias Koller.
"What?" he growled.
"It seems that we had a witness," Adam Jones said.
"Impossible. No one was there," Tobias Koller insisted.
"Then explain this 911 call," Adam snarled. He played a tape and they heard the first 911 call made about the Barton case.
"Huh," Tobias said, "I hope as an investigating policeman that you have information regarding our little witness."
"The FBI is investigating, the DC police department is just helping out. Although," Adam said, "This witness could have been a worker of Steve Barton. But, we have his notes so we shouldn't have to worry too much about him."
"Oh no we should worry. We should worry a lot actually," Tobias replied calmly, "He's a witness. We don't know how much he saw and it is very likely that he took the man's phone and laptop from upstairs. Unless he's a professional, he most likely didn't wear gloves so his fingerprints must be all over the place."
"Well the feds are doing everything they can to find out who made the call and who killed him," Adam growled.
"Perfect," Tobias said.
"What?" asked Adam, "Do you want to go to jail?"
"Of course not. They will find the witness' fingerprints and send out, what are they called, APBs out for the witness so they can question him some more. You just need to find him first and properly dispose of the boy so he doesn't tell tales," Tobias said, "Now will you finish your lunch? Margot slaved over that meal. Don't disrespect her work." Adam pursed his lips and followed instructions. Soon the man wouldn't be running the ring; he was too soft, and he'd make sure to reward himself for all of his loyalty and hard work while Koller slept with the fishes.