Left Behind
Chapter 16

"Where is she you son of a bitch?!"

Strong hands, Skinner's hands, yanked John away from Weasley.

John still tried to reach for Weasley, still tried to get his hands around his neck and ring the truth out of him. "Tell me where she is!!!! You brought her out here now tell me where she is!!!!!" John screamed.

Skinner roughly pushed John away from the cop car where Weasley was handcuffed, shaken.

"You're not helping her, John. This is not helping her." Skinner's voice was stern but sympathetic.

John just stared at Skinner through the darkness. The rain that had been light upon him first leaving home had now become almost a steady downpour. John felt like crying. No one would notice in all this rain. He felt powerless, useless. The same way he had felt when Luke had gone missing. At least then he had had Monica. And now...

All John could think about was the way he had treated Monica, the angry words he had spoken. He felt as if he was literally dead inside at this moment. At least with Luke, at least with him, he had known that his father loved him. Monica didn't know, she didn't...

John fought his attention back to what Skinner was saying, unable to completely give into despair if there was even a glimmer of hope.

"The campers in the surrounding areas confirm Weasley's story. There was a bright light and a flying aircraft of unknown origin. I've got every available agent searching these woods but..." Skinner didn't say it. He couldn't say it. He had been down this road before. History was repeating itself. He had been powerless to save Mulder then just as he was powerless to save Monica now.

"Over here!"

The nearby shout of an agent got everyone's attention. John's heart swelled with hope and fear simultaneously. Doggett and Skinner when running toward the sound of the shout, nearly slipping in the darkness on the wet grass. Eventually, finally, they reached the agent and looked down in disbelief at the obviously dead body lying on the ground.

"No, oh God no," John whispered. "It's Colin Watkins."