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Chapter Three: The Family
The doors of the vehicle slammed as Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth proceeded to the front steps of Greta Minard’s home. Booth looked over his shoulder at his partner, whose eyes were icy cold. She was upset, and he wished that he could just pull her close, comfort her, but they were on the clock, and he couldn’t let his personal affairs tangle with a family mourning the loss of a loved one. As they approached the steps, he turned and stopped, facing Brennan.
“What, Booth?” she asked, a huskiness to her voice.
“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he smiled down at his partner.
Brennan turned her face to the ground, “I’ll be fine,” she responded.
Booth pulled her face up gently with his hand, “I’m right here if you need me,” said Booth, and his eyes told her that he meant it.
The partners turned back to the stairs that lay in front of them. Booth approached the door, knocked three times, and stood back. They heard the door being unlocked, and out stepped a small woman. She was very petite, a little on the short side. Her hair was fiery red, with eyes as green as emeralds.
“Can I help you?” said the woman, in a very pleasant tone.
“Greta Minard?”
“Yes”
“I’m FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is Dr. Temperance Brennan from the Jeffersonian Institute, we’re here about your younger sister, Paige Hughes.”
“Did you find her, is she alright, oh please tell me she’s okay.”
Booth and Brennan both shared a look. Brennan turned back to the ground and Booth to the hopeful Ms. Minard.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”
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Greta blew her nose into a tissue, her eyes bloodshot from the crying. Across from her on the couch sat Booth and Brennan. They waited for her to calm down before they would start questioning her.
“You know…I practically raised my baby sister…Mom died when she was six…Dad became a drunk…I was only sixteen…I didn’t know how to raise a kid…but I raised Paige. Now she’s…she’s…gone,” her last words were spoken in a whisper, the tears still streaming down her face. Brennan flashed a quick glance at Booth, telling him she was uncomfortable. He flashed one back, saying that he understood.
“Ms. Minard…we’re gonna need to ask you some questions. Are you feeling up to it?” Booth leaned onto the coffee table, in an attempt to make eye contact with the half buried face.
“Go ahead, anything I can do to help you catch the b@$tard who did this to my sister.”
“Okay then, uh, do you know of Paige ever having problems with anyone?”
“Like who?”
“People she worked with, or her husband’s family.”
“Paiger didn’t work, she never had to,” Greta glanced over to a picture of her sister that sat on the buffet table in her living room. She was a pretty woman, blonde haired, the same emerald green eyes as Greta. “She actually has red hair, like mine, but she died it blonde, because she thought blonde people got all the attention from guys. She died it her sophomore year, and hadn’t changed it since.
“What about problems with her husband’s family.”
Greta snapped out of her trance and re-focused on Booth’s questions, “Uh…Willie only had his brother, Ollie, as far as I know there was no bad blood between them.”
“How did Will and Paige meet?”
“I worked for Willie’s lumber company, I brought Paige with me into work one day and they sorta…clicked.”
“Alright…well…thank you for your time Ms. Minard, and if you think of anything important, please call.”
“I will, and please call me Greta.”
“Sure, thank you again…c’mon Bones.”
Booth helped Brennan off the couch, placed his hand in its automatic position on the small of her back, and led her out the door.
“How you holdin’ up?” asked Booth, as he turned to Brennan placing his hand on her arm.
“I’m good Booth, let’s just get back to the lab so I can get to work on catching this guy.”
“Not quite yet Bones, we still have to talk to Will’s younger brother.”
“Do we have to do it today?”
“Yes, because as of now…he’s our prime suspect.”
“How so?”
“Well his older brother inherited the lumber company when their parents died, with Will out of the way, Ollie would get the company, the income, everything.”
Booth and Brennan loaded themselves into the car for the drive to Ollie Hughes’ home.