Part 2   
      
   XXXXX   
      
   Hoover Building   
   3:15 PM   
      
   That afternoon was spent on the phone. Both Mulder and Scully engaged   
   in one phone call after the other, punctuated by long periods of time   
   when one or the other was put on hold. At some point, they both were on   
   hold at the same time.   
      
   “Vivaldi," Mulder called across the room.   
      
   “Jailhouse Rock,” Scully replied.   
      
   “We should switch phones.”   
      
   "It's the Muzak version."   
      
   Mulder faked a shudder.   
      
   Finally, it was time to compare notes.   
      
   “The Scarsdale PD received a phone call from a Michael Powers at 7:45   
   on the 4th. The gym Jessica uses is in a relatively small strip mall.   
   There is the gym, a Chinese restaurant, a beauty salon and a Hallmark   
   store. That’s about it. Mr. Powers is a personal trainer at the gym and   
   he was going out for his dinner break. His car was next to Jessica’s   
   and, as he was getting in, he noticed the bags sticking out from under   
   her car. He took them and went back to the gym, where he and the office   
   manager opened them. Guests sign in and out of the gym and Jessica had   
   signed out nearly an hour before, after a 30 minute workout. They   
   called her apartment, received no answer and then called the police."   
   Scully said.   
      
   “Didn’t the police think this was a little strange?”   
      
   “Absolutely. They also called her number and, when she didn’t respond,   
   dispatched a car to her apartment. They met Karen in the hallway when   
   she came out to see who was ‘making a commotion’ in front of Jessie’s   
   door. She retrieved her spare keys, they did a quick walkthrough of the   
   apartment, and determined that she had not come home after she left for   
   the gym. So, they went back that night and the next morning and   
   questioned the storeowners and some of the clientele."   
      
   “No one saw anything,” Mulder said.   
      
   “Not a thing. They didn’t hear anything, either. No screams. No car   
   alarms.”   
      
   “And they came to the conclusion that it wasn’t an abduction because no   
   one saw it?”   
      
   “No. They came to that conclusion because at 5:05 she had sent an email   
   to her boss saying she needed emergency leave for at least a week--   
   possibly two—since she just found out her father was gravely ill and   
   not expected to live. Her sister would be picking her up and taking her   
   to the airport so they could fly out to California and spend his final   
   days with him. They effectively closed the case right there.”   
      
   “But the abandoned bags, and even the workout, make no sense, given   
   those circumstances."   
      
   “No, they don't. Unless you take into account another ‘abduction’ at   
   their precinct. It was also a woman in her thirties and a case where   
   they went completely by the book and called in the Bureau. A case that   
   was solved in about five minutes flat and was absolutely not an   
   abduction, even though there were witnesses swearing they saw the woman   
   being dragged away from her car. What they actually saw was a woman who   
   had no regrets leaving her husband and kids behind to go off with a new   
   boyfriend, but was drawing the line at leaving her Lexus.”   
      
   Mulder gave a good-natured chuckle, “Women and their cars.”   
      
   “In any case, they were looking for an excuse not to call us in and   
   have egg on their collective faces again, and they found it with that   
   email, even if they were left with a few loose ends.”   
      
   “They didn’t share the information with Karen.”   
      
   “She’s not immediate family and they just gave her the standard ‘the   
   investigation is ongoing’ response.”   
      
   “Why do I sense there is still a good deal of egg about to be used as a   
   facial mask?” Mulder asked.   
      
   “Because they never actually called to confirm that Jessica was,   
   indeed, in California. When I called them, they sounded as if they were   
   giving the case about as much priority as they would to finding   
   anyone’s lost property. One simple phone call to Karen—a phone call I   
   made, by the way—would have done the trick. Jessica’s parents have been   
   dead for years and she never had any siblings. So, as of a few moments   
   ago, the closed case is wide-open.”   
      
   “Good thing I made shuttle reservations in between phone calls,” he   
   looked at his watch. “We actually better hurry. The plane is taking off   
   in a couple of hours.”   
      
   “Pack light?”   
      
   Mulder let out a small sigh. “I hope so.”   
      
   XXXXX   
      
   3:30 PM   
   Summit, New Jersey   
      
   Grace Del Vecchio glanced at her phone and frowned. She supposed   
   pissing off the FBI was not the smartest move she ever made but,   
   really, how could she *know* this man was really a Fed? It’s not like   
   anyone paid all that much attention to her case while it was happening   
   and she couldn’t imagine why they’d decide to do so three months later.   
      
   Still, she agreed to meet with this Mulder-person at the FBI field   
   office in Newark. Why not? If he could get past security, she’d assume   
   he was legit. She smiled at her own cynicism. When had she become so   
   jaded? Probably about the time she woke up in the Atlantic Ocean, in   
   freaking February, no less.   
      
   In a way, she hoped this Mulder was the real deal. She wanted to talk   
   to someone who was actually listening. Not so much about the abduction   
   itself but about her rescuer. Something about that whole scenario just   
   never sat well with her. Nope. It never sat well at all.   
      
   XXXXX   
      
   Plane en route to NY   
   6:45 PM   
      
   Scully put down the file of newspaper articles Mulder had printed for   
   her. ”Jessica certainly was determined to find these people. Neither   
   one of these cases garnered national press coverage.”   
      
   “They ended quickly and with good outcomes. Not on the press’s top ten   
   list. But, thanks to the joys of the internet—and choosing the right   
   search terms—she tracked them down.”   
      
   “And they do seem to fit her dreams—at least the way Karen related   
   them.”   
      
   “Yes, but we’ll be able to tell more when we see her dream journal.”   
      
   Scully leaned forward a bit in her chair. “So, did you reach both   
   women?”   
      
   He smiled at the memory of those conversations. “Yes. They were like   
   night and day.”   
      
   “In what way?”   
      
   “Well, Tina Price, the first victim, was very open and . . . well, once   
   she got started, it was hard to get her to stop talking. Grace Del   
   Vecchio, on the other hand, wouldn’t talk over the phone at all. I had   
   to agree to meet her tomorrow at the NJ field office. Possibly, after a   
   lie detector test, DNA typing and whatever else she can think of to   
   confirm my identity, she might deign to give me an interview.”   
      
   “You know you love a challenge.”   
      
   He looked at her with a smile that reached his eyes and made them seem   
   a shade warmer.   
      
   “Depends on who issues it.” He leaned back against the headrest and got   
   down to business. “Okay. Tina’s story. She’s a 42-year old nurse,   
   living alone in Missouri. She got up to go to work, left her house, and   
   as she turned back to lock her front door, she felt a sharp pinch. The   
   next thing she knew, she was alone in a basement apartment with no   
   windows and a locked door.  She was kept there for two days with no   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)