Agent of Chaos (The X-Files: Origins #1)(31)

CHAPTER 14

Mulder Residence

2:03 A.M.



Phoebe talked nonstop the whole ride back to Mulder’s apartment, arranging and rearranging the information they had uncovered. “I’m giving you permission to make fun of me after I say this, because it’s the kind of thing you hear in lame horror movies. But I still have to say it.”

“Go ahead.” Whatever she was about to tell him couldn’t be worse than the mental train wreck in his head.

“I have a bad feeling about all this. There, I said it.”

“Do you feel better?”

“No.” She hugged her knees, balancing the wooden heels of her Dr. Scholl’s sandals on the edge of the seat. “The person who killed Billy is a sick bastard, but he’s also evil. Like Charles Manson and Son of Sam evil.”

“Maybe you should stop reading my murder books?” He looked over at her. “They’ll give you nightmares.”

“Then why do you read them?” She caught herself. “Because you don’t sleep.”

Mulder parked the car and smiled at her. “You’re pretty smart for—”

“For what?” She narrowed her eyes.

“For someone who believes that Elvis is still alive, making sandwiches at a diner.”

“You’re trying to distract me because you think I’m scared.” She got out of the car and stayed a step ahead of him as they walked to the apartment.

“That’s not it,” Mulder tried to tell her, but she ignored him.He paused at the door and looked at her. “You’re not the person I’m trying to distract.”

“Fox—”

The phone rang inside the apartment, and Mulder fumbled with his house keys.

“Who’s calling so late? Your dad?”

“He almost never calls.” When Mulder finally got the door open, he jogged to the kitchen and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Fox?” his mom cried out, the way she used to when he wandered away from her in the grocery store.

“Mom? Are you okay?” His insides knotted.

She burst into tears. “Where have you been? It’s the middle of the night.”

“I was at my friend Gimble’s house.” He didn’t remind her that he was almost eighteen.

“I thought…” She sniffed, and his chest tightened. “I thought I’d lost you, too.”

He swallowed the fist-sized knot in his throat. “I’m fine, Mom. You’re not going to lose me. Phoebe’s in town, remember? I was introducing her to my friend, that’s all.”

His mom blew her nose on the other end of the line. “I’m acting ridiculous. It’s not even that late for you. I tried to call your father, but he was ‘unavailable.’”

Mulder leaned his arm against the wall and pressed his forehead into the crook of his elbow. “Dad is always unavailable. You know that.”

Phoebe touched his arm, a silent show of support.

“You’re right.” His mom sounded like herself again. “I just need some sleep.”

“I’m sorry that I worried you, Mom.” The guilt he fought so hard to keep at bay threatened to crush him.

“Good night, honey. I love you.”

“Love you, too. Night.” Mulder waited for her to hang up, keeping the phone against his ear until the line went dead.

Phoebe took the receiver out of his hand and returned it to the cradle.

Mulder’s heartbeat thumped in his ears, and a familiar burning sensation spread through his chest. Samantha had been missing for almost five and a half years, and his mom still felt the effects of that loss every day. She never admitted it outright, but she didn’t have to, because he felt the same way.

Phoebe wheeled him around and took his face in her hands. “Your mom is fine. Don’t torture yourself.”

“I’m not.” He tried to turn away, but she kept her palms firmly planted on his cheeks.

“And don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not trying to torture myself, but I can’t stop thinking about what happened.” He fought to keep his voice steady. They both knew he was talking about the night his sister vanished.

“When was the last time you slept?”

He shrugged.

Phoebe closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, and Mulder finally got out of his own head long enough to look at her. She was beautiful. Her long lashes brushed her cheeks, and her full bottom lip made it look like she was perpetually pouting—or trying to seduce him. Not that it would take much effort on her part. He had a dozen issues of Playboy magazine stashed under his bed, and if he had a choice between any of the women on those pages and Phoebe, he would choose the girl standing in front of him.

Phoebe’s eyelids fluttered as her eyes began to open. Mulder’s whole body was on fire now, and his heart ached so damned bad. Her lips always took the pain away, even if the aftermath of their kisses caused him a different kind of pain.

He stopped thinking and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips parted, and she sighed softly.

Mulder slid his hands down her sides and cupped her ass.

“Fox?” she murmured.

Hearing her say his name in that breathless voice drove him half crazy. They stumbled to his room, Mulder walking her backward down the hallway, his mouth never leaving hers. His elbow hit the doorjamb on their way in, but the sting only made everything inside him burn hotter.