Agent of Chaos (The X-Files: Origins #1)(54)

*

Mulder woke up the next morning to the sound of the phone ringing. He jumped to his feet and bolted to the phone in his dad’s room. If it was his mom, he didn’t want her to worry.

“Hello?” he said, out of breath.

“It’s your father.” Mulder’s dad always felt the need to get that out, as if he was worried Mulder might forget.

“Where are you? I thought you were coming home last night?”

His dad sighed, and Mulder knew what was coming next. “I’m still in New Mexico. I need to stay here for three more days. Some unexpected things happened, and now I can’t leave. The Project is at a critical stage.”

Some unexpected things happened here, too.

Mulder heard his dad cover the receiver and talk to someone in the room with him. “… timeline changed … results … the merchandise … okay … tell Openshaw I’m on my way.” Then his dad came back on the line. “Mulder, did you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” he said, feeling strangely immune to the disappointment. He wasn’t going to bother telling his dad about what had happened. He could find out when he got home.

“I’ll call you tonight.” His father didn’t even mention Phoebe or remind him to sleep on the sofa, which meant he’d forgotten she was visiting.

“Okay.” Mulder hung up. He wouldn’t call, and they both knew it.

The weird part?

He didn’t care anymore. Mulder was more interested in talking to Gimble’s father than to his own.

After witnessing Earl Roy’s reaction last night when Mulder cut himself, it was obvious the man couldn’t have hacked up anyone to steal their bones. And his delusion wasn’t what they had originally thought. There was another serial killer walking the streets.

But how was Mulder supposed to find him? The killer must have left behind a clue that he’d missed, and nobody knew more about the Eternal Champion or the adult victims than the Major.

Mulder called Gimble, hoping the phone was plugged in. After the third ring, he was about to give up.

“Hello?” Gimble asked hesitantly.

“It’s me. I need to come over and talk to your dad.”

“Are you doing okay? I’m still pretty freaked out.”

“I’m fine, but I’m coming over.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. I’m leaving as soon as we hang up,” Mulder said.

“I’m not going to be home. I’m heading to a D and D game. After watching Earl Roy put you in a choke hold, I need a few hours without serial killers.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Mulder didn’t want to act like a jerk, but this was important.

“You don’t need me here.” Gimble was scrambling to come up with a solution. “The Major knows you. I’ll tell him you’re coming. Just knock on the door and give him the code words when he asks.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want him coming after me with a mop.” Mulder got the impression that the Major was even tougher than he looked.

“Wait five minutes. I’ll call back if there’s a problem,” Gimble said. “Otherwise, you can come over.”

“What did you tell him about last night?” Mulder didn’t want to slip up and get Gimble in trouble.

“I told him that you’re a crappy driver and you got us lost in the middle of nowhere.”

“Got it. But shouldn’t you tell him the truth? What if the sheriff’s office calls?” Mulder asked, relieved that his own father was still out of town.

“I didn’t think about that.” Gimble was quiet for a moment. “I’ll just unplug the phone and take it with me to the game.”

“If I don’t hear back, I’ll leave in five.” Mulder hung up.

“Where are you going?” Phoebe’s voice came out of nowhere, and she startled him. Getting knocked out and thrown in a dog kennel had made him jumpy.

“I thought you were still asleep,” he said.

She leaned against the doorjamb. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m going to Gimble’s house to talk to the Major. I think he might be able to help me find the other killer.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you want to come?”

She shook her head, tangled blond hair grazing her neck. “I’m going to call my parents. They’re going to find out eventually. It’s better if they hear it from me.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Not that he was doing it. “Can you ask them to not say anything? Just tell them my mom would be embarrassed to talk about it.”

“Did you actually tell her?” Phoebe asked, shocked.

“That would be a no. My dad can deal with that when he gets home.”

Gimble didn’t call back, which gave Mulder the all clear. He hung out with Phoebe until she was ready to call her parents.

“Wish me luck,” she said on his way out.

He smiled at her. “Luck.”

For both of us.

*

Mulder rang the doorbell and waited. The Major was expecting him, but navigating the man’s rocky mental terrain without Gimble there to help him still felt strange.

“Code words?” the Major asked from the other side of the door.