CHAPTER EIGHT


Scully stared at Mulder blankly, " Who would take it?"

" The smoking man, who else?"

" Oh Mulder, just because you found a carton of Morley cigarettes, doesn't mean you should automatically assume the smoking man is the culprit," Scully argued.

Mulder's eyebrows raised, " Why are you defending him?"

" I'm not…I'm just stating the fact it could have been anyone who burned the body and now the vials."

" It all points to one man, him." Mulder insisted.

Scully sighed, " Fine. Have it your way, it's the smoking man."

" If we go to Carly's tonight, he'd most likely be there. We can ask him about the vials." Mulder suggested.

" I'm seeing Carly this morning for a medical." Scully reminded him, " but I'm not putting anymore stress on her. She's been through enough already Mulder." She was giving him a subtle hint: leave her alone.
A few minutes later, someone knocked on their door and Scully answered it. It was Carly, looking very pale with dark circles under her hazel eyes.

" You don't look well," Scully greeted her.

" I don't feel well," Carly replied, " I've been throwing up all morning."

Mulder made a face, " Thanks for sharing," he told her and she ignored him. She was still angry with Mulder about his accusation last night.

" We'll go get you checked out," Scully said, " Mulder, while I'm gone, hunt for the box."

" What about the box? Are you talking about the vials?"

" Yes, they've gone missing," Scully explained.

" Oh great…if they've fallen into the wrong hands, the virus could spread." Carly groaned.

Mulder wanted to ask her if she knew anything about the missing vials, but she was so angry with him he decided not to push her.

" We don't know if its contagious yet," Scully reminded her.

" But it is, he told me." Carly answered.

" Who told you?"

" Spender. He told me the virus is contagious and if its spread, hundreds of people will die…just like my father did."

Scully frowned, " how much does Spender know about the virus?" she demanded Carly.

" He came to the conclusion that my father got the virus from the dog he supposedly killed the night he died. The dog might have been infected with the virus and passed it on to Dad. I wanted you to do an autopsy on the dog but Spender said its too risky for you. You might get infected as well and the virus will spread like wildfire."

" Nice of him to be so concerned about Scully's health," Mulder said sarcastically.

" But the thing is, I don't know if Dad really did kill the neighbour's dog."

" There's only one way to find out is to ask your ex-neighbour," Mulder told her.

" I guess so," Carly said uncertainly.

" Mulder, there's a job for you. Go to her old neighbourhood and interrogate the dog's owner. If Amos Garrett had killed it, bring the dog back so I can do an autopsy on it."

" That's a bad idea Dana. It its infected, you could get the virus." Carly protested.

" I'll be very careful, don't worry." Scully assured her, " Let's go do the medical."

" I need your old address," Mulder reminded Carly and Carly scribbled down the address for him and followed Scully out of the office without saying another word to Mulder.
Mulder glanced down at the slip of paper with the address scribbled on it and the owner's name and then glanced at the two-storey house where Carly used to live.

Mulder got out of the car and headed for Carly's ex-neighbour's house. He rang the doorbell and waited.

A man in his early thirties answered. He was shorter than Mulder, about 5"5 with messy brown hair and sleepy looking green eyes. He was clean shaven and a wore a neatly pressed white polo shirt and tan cargo shorts.

" Lenny Price?" Mulder greeted the man, " I'm Fox Mulder, with the FBI." He held up his badge.

Lenny's eyes went wide, " FBI?" he repeated, " What does the FBI want with me?"

" I need to ask you a few questions about Amos Garrett." Mulder told him smoothly.

" I didn't kill him," Lenny said quickly.

" I know you didn't kill him, he died from something else." Mulder explained.

" Of what?" Lenny asked curiously.

" Can I come in?"

" Oh, yeah." Lenny stepped aside to let the agent in. Mulder followed Lenny down the hallway and into the kitchen.

" How did old Amos die?" Lenny asked Mulder.

" That's confidential," Mulder replied, " before he died, did he pay you a visit?"

Lenny hesitated, " No, he didn't visit me,"

" He visited your dog didn't he." It was a statement, not a question.

" Yes, he more than visited him, he killed him."

" If Amos killed the dog, why didn't you report it?"

" 'Cause I figured after when Amos died, I didn't need to. And I didn't want to make a fuss over some stupid animal."

" Stupid animal? Didn't you like your dog?"

" No, I hated him. He was always barking and he was so aggressive sometimes. I kept him chained up and I was planning to dump him at the nearest dog shelter once I had the chance. But when Amos killed him, I was glad he did it."

" Where's the corpse?"

" I buried it."

" How did Amos kill the dog?"

" Butchered him with an axe,"

" We need the corpse to do an autopsy on him,"

" Why?"

" Do you really want to know?"

" Nah, couldn't care less." Lenny told him, " help yourself to the corpse and don't bring it back."

" Okay," Mulder wasn't much of a dog lover himself. A thought crossed his mind, " if you hated dogs, why did you get one?"

" I didn't, he came to me." Lenny explained, " and he wouldn't leave either. Whenever I tried to come near him, he turned aggressive."

Mulder nodded, " thanks for your time. A forensics team will be here today to dig up the corpse."

" That's fine, I won't be home though."

" Another question, did you and Amos get along?"

" Most of the time…he was a good guy. If he were still alive, I would have thanked him for ending that dog's life for me." Lenny suddenly turned wary, " You're not going to have me arrested for this are you?"

" Of course not. You didn't kill anyone. You just have a hatred for dogs." Mulder stood up, " thanks again Lenny." They shook hands.

" My pleasure." Lenny walked him out and Mulder headed back to the office.
Carly and Scully were waiting for him when Mulder returned.

" Well?" Scully prodded him.

Mulder told them what happened, " I'll call forensics," he said and reached for the phone, " by the way, how did the medical go?"

Carly and Scully glanced at each other, " We have some rather surprising results," Scully said.

" Don't tell me you have the virus?"

" No…I'm pregnant." Carly said flatly.

Mulder put down the receiver, " You're…pregnant?" he repeated, shocked.

Carly nodded miserably.

" Can I ask who the father is?"

" I think you know," Carly said and Mulder nodded.

" The CSM is going to be a father," Mulder mused, " does he know?"

" Not yet…I'll tell him tonight."

" You don't sound happy."

" Can I tell you guys a secret?"

" Sure."

" I never wanted kids," Carly explained, " and now that I'm going to have one, my career is officially ruined."

" I wouldn't go that far," Scully assured her.

" Do you mind if I leave now? I have a lot of think about."

" Sure, go ahead." Scully smiled at her and she left.

That night, the CSM arrived his usual time. He kissed Carly hello.

" I have some news for you," Carly said.

" Sounds serious."

" It is rather," Carly paused, " You're about to become a father."

The CSM's face paled and he sank down onto the couch, " You're…pregnant?"

Carly nodded wordlessly.

" But…how can that be?" he wondered.

" We weren't exactly careful that night," she remembered. She slapped her palm to her forehead, " How could we be so stupid?"

The CSM raised his eyebrows, " I take it this is not good news."

" Not to me it isn't. How am I supposed to publish my books while caring for a kid?"

" You never wanted children?"

" No…" Carly paused, " I'd have an abortion but I'm against abortions…how do you feel about this sudden turn of events?"

" Very surprised," the CSM replied, " it hasn't quite sunk in yet." Deep down inside he was thrilled, now that Carly was pregnant with his child, she was his-and nobody could take her or the child away from him. The only thing left to do was to get married. He already had one illegitimate son, he wasn't about to have another.

" When is the baby due?" he asked her.

" It's December so it'll be due around July next year." She said, " it's a shame it'll have no grandparents."

Good. The CSM thought, I don't want anyone to get in our way. I'll have to buy a ring so we could get married ASAP.