I wasn't planning the chapter to go this direction but the story kind of took over itself! Thank you for the reviews and please keep commenting so I know whether or not to continue writing this story!
Scully decided when she woke up that she wasn't going to let Mulder see how upset she was about last night. She knew that they wouldn't talk about it, they never did. She sighed as she finished putting on her lipstick and grabbed her back. She opened the door right as Mulder had his hand up to knock.
"I found something." He said his eyes bright and anxious.
"What is it?" She asked as they started walking quickly down the hall. She studied his face. He had dark circles under his eyes and obviously neglected to shave the night before.
"All the victims were a part of the Southern Hills Country Club. I found the connection when looking through phone records."
"So do you think they knew each other?" Scully asked struggling to keep up with him.
"Not necessarily, there are hundreds of members, but there's a good chance our killer is a member."
At the morning meeting Mulder relayed the new information.
"I checked out the list of guests and there weren't any male members with red hair so either this guy is sneaking in or he doesn't have red hair like we thought."
"Well that sure narrows it down." Another agent scoffed.
"There's an event tonight and I think we should be there to check for any suspicious behavior." Mulder said pacing excitedly. If this lead works out he might not even have to get into this guys head.
"I think we should go under cover." Said Deputy Director Johnson.
"What do you suggest?" AD Skinner asked.
"We introduce a knew member to the Southern Hills Country Club." The Deputy said nodding towards Agent Scully.
Mulder was immediately shaking his head. "I don't see how that's necessary-" Mulder began before Scully cut him off.
"I actually think that is a good idea. All the women disappeared a few days after Country Club event so there shouldn't be much of a risk, and it might lure this guy out of the crowd." Scully said avidly not looking at Mulder.
"We will set you up with a mic and have officers stationed all around the premise." The Deputy agreed.
"I can't believe you're actually considering this." Mulder growled at the Deputy looking at Skinner for help. Skinner adverted his eyes and looked at Scully.
"I think its a good idea." Skinner said trying not to image the look of betrayal on Mulder's face. "It's a very low risk operation." Scully was nodding in agreement.
"Fine." Mulder said anger evident in his voice. "But I'm going with her." He stared around the room challenging anyone to argue with him.
"Mulder…" Scully started but Skinner cut her off.
"That might not be a bad idea. Mulder can be your escort. There hasn't been anything on the news about Mulder's involvement on this case so it should be safe." Skinner said and watched relief flow over Mulder's features.
"I'm still not happy about this." Mulder said as the meeting adjourned.
That evening Mulder, Skinner, and some other agents studied the premise of the venue. Guests had already started showing up and Mulder and Skinner were dressed in black tie suits pretending to be members.
"Scully should be here any minute." Skinner said taking a glass of wine and handing one to Mulder.
"Remember to keep a lookout for a redheaded male." Mulder said holding the wine glass but not sipping from it. "I just had a thought. What if this guy dyed his hair? Send a message, have everyone on the lookout for a male with a pale complexion and freckles." Mulder told Skinner excitedly. They were getting close he could tell.
Skinner relayed the message and scanned the room.
"This guy is sick, he most likely stalks his victims at these events and then…" Mulder suddenly went silent and sucked in a breath. Skinner looked up to see what caused the younger agents reaction and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Agent Scully was walking towards them wearing a long form fitting black dress with a scooping neckline and hair pinned up in curls. The back was open and her lips were as red as her hair. Skinner always admired Mulder's ability to refrain from a sexual relationship with his partner, but also cursed him for it at the same time. If he was younger and not her boss…
"I didn't see anything suspicious on my way in." Scully started as she stood in front of Mulder and Skinner. Neither one of them said anything.
"Stop looking at me like that." She told Mulder feeling her face flush. His gaze was even more intense than usual and she suddenly wished for the security of her frumpy suits.
Skinner grunted awkwardly wishing he could be anywhere else in the world. The tension between the two agents was enough to make Skinner want to bolt from the room.
"You look nice." Mulder finally said breaking the silence.
"Thanks." Scully said looking at her feet.
"So we are going to walk around and chat to some of the regulars and see what we can find out about our killer." Mulder said putting a hand on her back and leading her towards the buffet, leaving Skinner to keep up surveillance
"The bacon wrapped shrimp is excellent." Mulder said as he walked up to the middle of the buffet table.
Scully raised an eyebrow at him as he held out a shrimp to her.
"You just cut in front of all those people Mulder." Scully said looking at the multiple glares being sent there way. Mulder shrugged as they walked to the table with their name tags on it. They had spent the day registering for the Country Club under the names Mrs and Mr Williams.
They sat down at their seats and shook hands with the couple next to them.
"Hi my name is Sarah." Said a woman with dark hair and a slender face as she eagerly shook Mulder's hand.
"William." Mulder said as the lady frowned and Scully bit her tongue.
"William Williams?" The lady asked unsure whether or not he was joking.
"I was the least favorite child." Mulder said with a wink. Scully kicked him under the table.
"Oh sorry how rude of me, this is my wife Julia." Mulder said putting an arm around Scully as she forced a smile and held out her hand.
"This is my husband Joshua." Sarah said as they shook hands with her husband, a burly man with bushy eyebrows.
"So what do you do for a living?" Joshua said sizing up Mulder.
"Oh I'm a farm owner." Mulder said flashing a charming smile. "The lady here watches over the lambs." Scully kicked Mulder's leg again harder this time. He gave her an over exaggerated smile and pinched her cheek. "Isn't that right honey bunch?"
Scully forced a smile at the couple which came out more like a grimace as she stood up. "Excuse me." She said walking quickly to the middle of the dance floor trying to control her emotions. She didn't know why Mulder's incessant teasing was bothering her so much. Ever since the incident in the hallways there had been another layer of tension between them. Of course like usual, they decided ignoring it was better than talking about it.
She surveyed the room keeping her eye out for anyone suspicious and caught a man staring at her. Her heart rate immediately accelerated. He was average sized with blond hair and a nice face. She couldn't tell from the lighting and distance if he had freckles or not. She moved around the room but still found him watching her.
"Julia, I was wondering where you ran off too." Came a low whisper in her ear. She jumped and turned around.
"Mulder someone's watching me." She said quietly grabbing his arm.
"Who?" Mulder said looking around. She tilted her head towards the man and after a few moments Mulder started laughing.
"What?" Scully asked feeling the anger build up again. She hated not knowing what was going on and now he was laughing at her?
"Scully, nearly every man in this room is looking at you." Mulder said causing Scully to blush. "I even saw Skinner take a peak."
"God Mulder!" Scully said covering her face with her hands trying to hide her red face. Mulder backed off feeling how uncomfortable she was.
"Well you can't blame him…"
"Mulder look!" Scully said suddenly pointing to a redheaded waiter from the other side of room. Mulder was off and running towards him and the next thing she knew the waiter had a gun out and pointed at him. Scully tried to fight her way through the crowd towards Mulder but felt someone grab her arm and then everything went dark. The last thing she heard was the sound of a gunshot.