Agent of Chaos (The X-Files: Origins #1)(56)

“Not to who … to what.” The Major clutched the paperback tighter. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. It was a living, breathing alien. The creature’s body was shaped like a human’s, but its skin was gray and wrinkled, and its head was too big for its body. But the alien’s eyes were what scared me. It had gigantic bug eyes, and they were black like a television screen that was turned off.”

“Maybe it was a prank? A guy in a costume or something?” Mulder offered, but a part of him wanted to believe the story.

“It was one of them. Just one.” The Major’s eyes darted around the room. “And the Cigarette Smoking Man … he was talking to it.”

Mulder stared at Gimble’s dad, speechless.

“That’s it.” The Major sounded defeated. “I got scared, and I took off so they wouldn’t catch me.”

That seemed like plenty to Mulder.

“I know what I saw.” The Major sounded like the scout leader from the episode of Project U.F.O. He walked over to the recliner and straightened the seat cushion before he sat down. “But no one believed me, and she paid the price.”

His wife.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

The weatherman on TV chattered in the background. “… a high of fifty-seven degrees, with a ten percent chance of rain.”

Then a woman cut in. “Thank you, Tom. And now the latest on Earl Roy Propps, the man the press is calling the Lullaby Killer. If you missed our coverage this morning, thirty-two-year-old Earl Roy Propps of Craiger, Maryland, was apprehended by the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Department late last night.” Footage of the dilapidated house appeared on the TV screen. It looked even more menacing in the early morning light.

“After receiving an anonymous tip, the sheriff’s department arrived at the Propps residence, and sources told us they found Earl Roy Propps in the basement with two hostages—eight-year-old Sarah Lowe, who disappeared from her home five nights ago, and a teenage boy whose name has not been released. Deputies recovered numerous weapons from the house. The Lullaby Killer struck fear in the hearts of parents in the metro area as images like these surfaced.”

Gimble would definitely have to tell the Major now.

A photo of the magpie with arrows sticking out of its body filled the screen, and the newscaster continued, “While the sheriff’s department refused to speculate, the bird found with Billy Christian—another one of Propps’s young victims—clearly signifies the occult.”

“Tell the truth, damn it!” the Major shouted at the TV set. “The aliens took those kids. This Earl Roy person is a pawn in the government’s game.”

Mulder couldn’t tell the Major that Earl Roy Propps had tried to kill him.

“WJLA News has just received new information related to the case,” the newscaster said. “Brian North is live on the scene at Rock Creek Cemetery.”

“What do you think they’re up to now?” the Major asked.

Mulder shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

The newscast cut to the field reporter standing at the top of the hill that overlooked the mausoleums. “This is Brian North, and I’m here at Rock Creek Cemetery, where another tragedy is rapidly unfolding. The Lullaby Killer is behind bars, but he still managed to leave another victim. The body of eight-year-old Daniel Tyler was discovered this morning. Tyler disappeared from his home in Cookstown, Virginia, six months ago. According to the FBI, the Lullaby Killer left his calling card with Daniel’s body—a magpie pierced with eight arrows. Now we are all asking the same question: Did Earl Roy Propps leave behind the bodies of other victims?”

The reporter glanced over his shoulder at the FBI agents at the scene, his expression solemn. “We don’t have an answer yet, but we can take solace in the fact that a serial killer is off the streets.”

“The FBI will figure it out,” Mulder said under his breath. “They can’t be that stupid.”

The Major clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Son, I just told you that someone from the American government made contact with an alien on a US military base. Who knows how many more little gray men the bastards are hiding? And you’re asking if FBI agents are stupid?”

“You don’t understand.…” Mulder rubbed his eyes. The lack of sleep was catching up to him. He took a deep breath and started again. “There’s another killer out there—the person who gave Earl Roy Propps the bones. Earl Roy has a serious aversion to blood, like a phobia. He can’t stand the sight of it. A guy like that couldn’t have committed those types of murders.”

The Major seemed suspicious. “I didn’t hear about that on the news. Where did you get your information?”

Mulder couldn’t tell the Major the truth without getting Gimble in trouble.

“Intel,” Mulder said, thinking fast. “You’ve got your sources and I’ve got mine.”

The Major pursed his lips, studying him. “Good work, airman. Continue.”

“Earl Roy left the chaos symbol with Billy Christian’s and Daniel Tyler’s bodies. I’m thinking maybe he’s Chaos and the other killer is Law? Did the police find any bone arrows left with the adult victims?”

The Major snorted. “No. But that doesn’t mean his symbol wasn’t there. The police department is full of fools, just like the Federal Bureau of Idiots. Law left his name at every crime scene.”