Disclaimer: No infringement intended. I'm not making anything. I'm just borrowing Mulder and Scully for a quick sec!

A/N: I truly apologize for not getting this chapter up! School has been crazy, and I've come to the firm conclusion that Statistics is the worst class in the world!! So if anyone is interested in trying to explain my homework to me … please email quick!

Also, just a forewarning …. Chapter 9 may be delayed slightly. I had a surprise visit yesterday from my significant other! I hate men who keep secrets! (roommates and boyfriends included!!! )

Chapter 8

A uniformed officer knocked on the lieutenant's door before he opened it and waited to be waved in. Mulder made a mental note of his name badge, Gervase, as he stepped up next to him. He noted that the officer was carrying a file folder and could see an evidence bag sticking out of it.

"Lieutenant, Agents," he nodded to the men in the room. "My partner and I tagged teamed the residence at 671 Maple Drive. Anderson approached the home in a postal vehicle and pulled yesterday's mail out of the box." The officer handed three evidence bags to Nester. He watched Nester mouth the word 'score' and smiled at his reaction.

"Then I pulled up in a patrol unit and banged on the door pretty hard, but there was no answer. I peeked in the window. The place is furnished, but it didn't appear that anyone had been around in a while. I spoke to the next door neighbor, Carol Spiegel. She said she hadn't seen anyone around for several weeks and thought the former residents had moved. She seemed kinda evasive and nervous about it," he said as he flipped the file open.

"Fits the pattern," Mulder remarked as Nester crossed the room and handed the mail pieces to him.

"Yeah, I'll say. I worked the last two cases when the missing person reports were filed." He chuckled at the irony of it. "They certainly aren't your typical "gossip monger" neighbors. Anyway, the mail in the box was for Paul Acton. Ran him through NCIC,DCI and SDPD computer systems, with no hits. We did score with the vehicle, however. DMV records show that he owns a white Ford Escort." The officer smiled and handed the DMV print out to Mulder.

"Bingo!" Peters said, sitting back in his chair with a smirk on his face.

"Wait a minute," the officer continued, arching his eyebrows. "It gets better … He was also on the Association Board. Found this notice in his mail box as well." The officer handed the final evidence bag to Mulder. It was a posting regarding a spring cleaning day for the subdivision and was signed by the members of the Association Board, including one Paul Acton.

Mulder stared at the memo and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. There's a pattern here … Big Mike was on the board, Winn Shroeder and Paul Acton … two are missing and one had a monster chase his wife across the yard. Interesting, he thought quietly.

"Agent Mulder, you have that look in your eye," Peters commented as he looked over at him.

Mulder handed the evidence bag to Peters and headed for the door. "The answers are in the ground, Lieutenant. We just need to figure out a way to get down there."

"Geezus. Hey surfer boys! You guys were kidding about the award for best planned community right?" Agent Driscoll asked scanning the conference room. He and three uniformed officers from the San Diego PD had taken up residence in the small room as they tore through the CC&R binder from the Falls of Arcadia subdivision looking for a loophole in the rules that would allow them to dig up the yard. The three officers all shook their heads. "You might as well live in prison. The rules are more lenient."

"Listen, Yankee," Officer Anderson, a tanned blond haired male in his early thirties, piped in. "That's the way it is out here … although most are not this intense."

"Yeah," Officer Jobgen chimed in. The officer was nearly a twin to Anderson, tan, with sandy blonde hair. "And most times you don't find out about the rules until after you move in to the neighborhood. It's not in the brochure … since it isn't a selling point."

"Frick! I thought the Bureau had too many rules," Dris muttered as he flipped through the photocopies.

"Zen gardens," mumbled the third officer, named Bates, who had been quiet for most of the past hour and a half. He flipped some paper around on the table and then looked up at Dris, Jobgen and Anderson. "Zen gardens," he repeated flatly.

"What about them?" Anderson asked with a confused expression on his face.

"There's nothing in the rules about putting in a Zen Garden," he replied sliding the sections of the book over to Driscoll. "That's the way in."

"I don't understand," Driscoll muttered. "How does a Zen Garden get us digging in the front yard? Aren't they made of sand?"

The officer shook his head. "Okay, I know its cold most of the year on the east coast, but work with me here …. a reflecting pool is a component of a Zen garden," he replied with a smirk.

"That's not going to work," Anderson countered. "There's something in there about pools."

"Swimming pools," Driscoll said as he skimmed the section of the covenant and code. "The section only covers swimming pools."

"Just swimming pools?" Jobgen butted in. "What about this section here that covers digging in the yard with out association approval?" He stood up and leaned over the table to point to the section of the book.

Bates shook his head. "That section talks about landscaping and specifically mentions shrubs, trees, cover and flower beds, but nothing about gardens or the grass."

"Isn't the grass considered cover?"

"It depends on the interpretation," Anderson replied. "Just by reading this, I would read this to say flowers are the cover in question."

Driscoll stared at the passage and cross referenced it with the one in front of him. "And there is no disclosure or microscopic print anywhere that says "includes but is not limited to"?

"Nope!" Anderson and Bates answered in unison.

"Then that's it!" Driscoll said, leaning back in his chair. The door clicked open and two three men walked into the room.

"What's it?" Mulder asked as he led the parade of Nester and Officer Gervase into the room.

"Reflecting pools," the four men in the room replied in unison.

Nester stared at them quizzically. "You guys practicing for the barbershop quartet? That sounded a little rehearsed."

"Dude, you need to understand … We've been working this case way too long, so this little break is putting juice in the veins, if ya know what I mean," Anderson answered, winking at Nester.

"Yeah, any way to stick it to that jag-off Gogolak," Jobgen commented as he leaned back in his chair. "That guy is a prick."

"And there is nothing about digging for a reflecting pool?" Mulder questioned.

Bates shook his head. "Nope, I checked the whole thing, I didn't see anything," he answered.

"Let's run this past the city attorney just to be sure though," Anderson said gathering up the photocopies of the CC&R Binder. "I'll take it over there now. Hopefully they can have someone review it tomorrow morning."

Mulder bit his lip in thought for a second before interrupting Anderson. "No, wait," he called. "If the binder doesn't say anything specific about it, then let's leave it at that and see what happens. I'm willing to take a bet that a backhoe parked in my front yard will stir up some action."

"You're sure?" Anderson asked, looking from Mulder to the officers at the table.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Mulder said nodding to confirm.

Jobgen stood from the table. "All right then. I'll make contact with the street department and schedule the dig for tomorrow morning."

"Okay, good," Mulder replied and handed Jobgen his business card. "Call me at this number when you have it all set up. My cover is Rob Petries. My partner's cover is Laura, in case she answers the phone."

Dris looked up at Mulder and caught the expression on his face. Something is up with him, he thought as he studied his face. "What's that look about Mulder?" he questioned him.

Mulder leaned against the wall and tilted his head in reflection. He bit his lip and looked around the room. "I don't know. I'm worried about that kid," he replied glancing over at Nester.

"The kid that tipped you off?" Nester asked.

"Yeah," Mulder replied as he ran his thumb over his lip. "He told me that he had explored his tunnels with his friend Zack. Zack and his mother were the first reported missing," Mulder paused and looked around the room. "I think we need to pull them out of there for their safety, especially now that Nester and I have been down there nosing around."

"You're right, Agent Mulder," Anderson added. "No since in losing anyone else in this mess."

"No problem," Bates nodded. "Gervase and I'll go pick them up."

Mulder nodded and gave Bates in the information on Ben's residence and then went to make a notification of his own.

"I knew your name wasn't Rob." Ben fired off as he stared relentlessly at the man in front of him. He watched as the man shifted uneasily on his feet and paced nervously around the table as if an excuse would magically appear in front of him.

"Ben, I'm sorry about that," Mulder stammered, his mouth suddenly filled with imaginary cotton balls. "My job sometimes requires me to go undercover to find things out."

"You promised not to tell anybody," Ben replied flatly. "I told you I could get in trouble if you told." He crossed his arms at his chest. God, who else did he tell? I should've kept my mouth shut, Ben kicked himself mentally. He bit his lip and darted his eyes nervously around the room considering the consequences of revealing his secret. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes and blinked to make them go away. Stop it cry baby! he chided himself. Ben looked up at Agent Mulder when he heard a soft sigh. He looked defeated. He watched as he rubbed his hand across his forehead and walked around the table. He pulled the chair out next to Ben and sat down.

"Look Ben, I told you I wouldn't tell anyone, and I didn't! At least not anyone at the subdivision that would get you in trouble." Mulder rubbed his hands together and looked at the boy sitting next to him. "You aren't in trouble for telling me, okay? In fact, what you told me was a big help to me."

"Like how?" Ben asked rolling his eyes and looking over at Mulder.

"My partner and I went down in the tunnels today and found the cars, just like you said," Mulder said.

"Really? You found the cars?" Ben's replied warily eyeing Mulder. He didn't find nothing, Ben thought quickly. He's trying to trick me into telling him …something. Ben watched Agent Mulder as stood up from the chair and walked around the table. Mulder picked up a video cassette that was sitting on it, and then walked to the TV cart at the end of the room.

"Yeah," Mulder said calmly. He pushed the tape into the VCR and turned the TV on and then fiddled with the remote as he continued talking. "It was all down there Ben, just like you said." Mulder pointed at the TV and the walked back to the chair next to Ben and sat down.

Ben stared at the TV screen as the video of the tunnels began to play. He watched in amazement as the two agents made their way into the cavern where the cars were stored and uncovered part of a red car. His fear began to dissolved and he leaned forward against the table trying to get a closer view of the screen. "Did you see the elevator thing by the maintenance garage?" Ben mumbled, startled to hear his own voice. He had not meant to say it aloud.

"Yeah," Mulder replied simply. Mulder paused the video playback on the shot of the lift. He tilted his head and looked at Ben, baiting him to reveal something more. "What else did you find down there?"

Ben looked at his hands and then dropped his voice to a whisper. "Furniture and stuff …..and" He looked up at Mulder out of the corner of his eye without moving his head.

"And what?"

Ben bit his lip and shook his head. "Just stuff."

Mulder nodded and popped another sunflower seed in his mouth. "How did you get down there anyway," he asked trying to open Ben up again.

Ben shrugged his shoulders and tapped his fingertips on the top of the table nervously. "Zack found a hole behind the maintenance shed that went down there," he looked up at the TV screen as the memory of that day flooded through his mind. He had felt like he and Zack were on a secret mission, sneaking behind the maintenance building to a secret passage that led down to the cavern. They had walked the tunnels for what seemed like hours and discovered boxes of furniture and clothes and eventually the garage area of cars and the elevator that brought them down.

Mulder could tell that Ben was reliving an encounter in his mind. "What happened?" he prompted Ben for the story.

Ben bit his lip as he thought about that day and how the events had turned so quickly. He felt tears stinging his eyes again and he began to wring his hands nervously. That's when everything got screwed up and then no one believed me, Ben thought silently.

"Ben? What's wrong?" Mulder asked softly.

The words brought Ben out of his reverie and the boy looked nervously around the room. "I ahh…. I gotta go," he stammered and pushed back the chair. "Where's my mom?" Ben stood up and quickly headed around Mulder for the door.

"Hey, wait!" Mulder said. He turned in his chair and hooked Ben by the elbow as he attempted to bolt past him.

Ben felt Mulder's hand on his arm, but he didn't pull away. He turned his head and looked into Mulder's eyes, into the eyes that inspired trust. He had trusted this man, a stranger, even when he was suspicious of his purpose. There was something about him that made him feel safe and something inside told him if he told the truth, this man would believe him … unlike his parents when he went to them for help.

"Ben, it's okay. You're safe here." Mulder stood and stepped back from the chairs, coaxing Ben back to his seat. "Your mom is down the hall talking to my partner." Mulder sat back down in his chair and looked Ben dead in the eye. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. That's why I had the police pick you and your mom up today. Your dad will be here soon as well. You won't be going back home until it's safe for you."

"We're going to stay here … at the police department? Like where? In a cell?" Ben questioned, remaining cautious of Rob ...er Agent Mulder.

"No," Mulder chuckled to ease the tension. "I'm going to put you in what's called 'protective custody'. You and your parents will stay at a hotel until I figure out what's going on in the tunnels and put an end to it."

"Protective custody?" Ben stared at him with arched eyebrows and a scowl on his face. "You're kidding right? That stuff only happens on TV," he quipped.

Mulder chuckled. "Where do you think they get TV story lines from?" He leaned back on the chair. "Old case files from the FBI and other police departments."

Ben looked at him warily. "I thought that was just made up stuff. My mom says that people who write TV shows have over-active imaginations."

"Hmph!" Mulder huffed.

Ben slumped back in his chair and a defeated expression crawled across his face.

"Does your mom say that about you?" Mulder asked tilting his head to the side.

"Sometimes," Ben mumbled. The truth was she had said it to him more than once… and it was the reason she had taken him out of school after the … tunnel. His nightmares and skittishness at school, the fights he had gotten in with the bullies on the bus.

"Like when?"

Ben looked up at the ceiling and then around the around the room while he tried to figure out what to say. He was mentally kicking himself for even brining up the monster topic in the park the other day. Maybe mom was right and it was just my imagination, Ben though to himself. Part of him just wanted to tell the truth and get it over with, but past experience reminded him that was the wrong thing to do. But this guy …I think he believes me…Ben stared blankly at the table and mumbled under his breath. "Like when I told her what happened to Zack, she said I made it up because nothing bad happened to him. She said that she saw a moving truck in their driveway and that they've moved away."

Mulder nodded his head and bit his lip. He absent-mindedly put a sunflower seed in his mouth and cracked the shell with his teeth. There was silence between the two for a moment as Mulder formulated a line of questioning that would build his credibility with Ben and gain his trust.

"Do you believe he moved away?" Mulder asked quietly.

After a second Ben shook his head. "He didn't move, the ….guy took him," Ben whispered.

Mulder's gaze never faltered. "Wanna tell me about it?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Ben nodded and slowly began to weave his tale.

Scully stared at the TV screen in disbelief while watching the video that her partners had shot earlier in the day. "And you got into these tunnels through the crawlspace in my basement?" she asked Nester for the second time.

"Yeah, Dana," Nester laughed at her. "Why do you look like you don't believe it?"

Scully looked over at him with arched eyebrows. "It's just a little surreal. Mulder and I were just talking about this the other day."

"About tunnels under your house?"

Scully signed heavily. "Not exactly. He was telling me he thought the bodies were buried in the yard and then I made a joke about finding a tunnel to the underside in the basement."

Nester walked over and leaned against the lieutenant's desk. "Well, based on what I saw, I think the bodies are buried down there," he rolled his neck and smiled as the joints popped. "Guess we'll know for sure tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow?" Scully questioned him quizzically.

"The Street Department is sending out a backhoe to dig up your front yard," Nester replied. When he saw the perplexed look on Scully's face he put up his hand. "Relax, its still within your cover. You and your husband are putting in a reflecting pool."

Scully arched her eyebrows and stared at Nester. "A reflecting pool? I hope there isn't some rule in Covenant and Code book about that."

Nester pushed off the desk and walked over to the TV set. He turned off the TV and rewound the tape. "Actually we're hoping there is some rule, to try to entice some activity," Nester said flatly.

"What?"

"Dris checked the book today. There isn't anything specific about a reflecting pool, although there are plenty of other rules about digging and moving the landscape. So, our "fake" contractor will be out tomorrow to start digging and we'll let the chips fall where they may," Nester said shuffling the papers around in the case file. He looked up at Scully and stared at her for a moment, trying to read her reaction. Her face was an emotionless slate.

"Dana, what's wrong with you?" Nester ventured, not beating around the bush anymore. "You seem …. out of it today."

Busted! she thought as she stared at the floor blankly. What is wrong with me? Christ, I can't even answer him. "There's nothing wrong," she replied folding her arms across her chest. "I'm fine."

Nester sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, whatever! Don't "fine" me, Missy. I know you better than that," Nester retorted. "Come on, what gives?" He watched Scully as she ran her tongue over her lips and looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with him. Her eyes suddenly seemed red and watery. "You aren't going to get all emotional on me are you? Cuz you know I don't do well with crying fits," he joked trying to cut the tension in the room.

It worked slightly. Scully cracked a smile. "Do you think I'm bitchy?"

"Do you honestly expect me to answer that?" Nester guffawed.

"Yes, I do," Scully replied flatly. "I'm certain that you of all people will give me an honest answer if I ask you something. So I'm asking you."

"Yes, sometimes. Especially when you are being really picky about things," Nester said. He walked over to the desk and laid the file and video tape on the top of it. "It's not that big of deal though. It's no different then men who are dealt 'Jerk Cards'. Why do you ask?" Nester leaned against the desk and stared at her.

"No reason," she mumbled and walked over to the window in the lieutenant's office. She stared at the street below and felt herself getting sucked into the hypnotic flow of the traffic.

Nester turned and looked over at her, still trying to comprehend the question. He cleared his throat, drawing her attention again. "That's it? You're going to drop a question like that on me and then nothing? You've got my attention, so spill your guts before I force you to do it," Nester goaded her.

Scully sunk back against the wall and bit her lip in contemplation. "I think I'm a hypocrite," she blurted out.

Oh, Christ, not this again? Nester thought as her comment took him back to the twelve plus hours they spent together trapped in the mine shaft two months ago. She'd felt like a martyr that night, too, and it had taken all of his psycho-babble expertise to get her to see that she wasn't dysfunctional. "What?" Nester exclaimed rolling his eyes. "Give me a break."

"No seriously," she countered. "I keep trying to act like the professional agent and live a straight-forward, anti-drama life … but after spending the last week in freakville with a bunch of fakey nice women, I've come to the realization that I'm no better than any of them."

Nester responded to her words with a perplexed expression on his face. Scully often talked in circles, avoiding her real feelings and emotions. It took a skilled friend to read between the lines and discover the true meaning. If he had been anyone else, he would've had no clue what she was talking about, but the two of them had a connection of sorts, something more than the average friendship. He tilted his head to the side and looked over at her. "Is this about the Channel 11 guy?"

"How do you know about him?" Scully asked completely shocked that he had mentioned Ethan.

"Mulder told me that you were hanging around him again," Nester said calmly. He laughed inwardly at Scully as she squirmed over his revelation.

"Mulder?" Scully coughed out. Shit! He did see us!

"Yeah," Nester answered slowly in a know-it-all tone.

Scully shook her head and closed her eyes. "Shit" she muttered under her breath.

"Uhhh, yeah… you're busted! Okay, what is it with you two … you and Mulder?" Nester asked her pointedly. "Why's this relationship thing so hard?"

"I don't know," she replied dejectedly. "I guess we just have … trust issues."

"That's a crock of shit!" Nester chided her. "You expect me to believe that you don't trust him? Honestly? If you were held hostage by some deranged freakazoid, who beside Skinner, Driscoll and me would you want to save you?"

"What?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Mulder."

"Okay, and if you were in a gun battle, who would you want backing you up?"

"Mulder."

"And if you got your toe stuck in the water spout of your bathtub while you were taking a bubble bath, who would you call to loosen it for you… and don't you dare answer your mother, either!"

Scully started laughing at the stupidity of his question.

"I didn't hear your answer?" Nester prompted her.

"Mulder! Nester, what does any of that have to do with…."

"It has everything to do with whether you trust Mulder or not, because if you didn't trust him, he wouldn't be the first person on your list for any of those things," Nester argued with her. "So it's not a matter of trust at all. I believe it boils down to pure jealousy. And if you want my opinion … which you are getting regardless… that is also a crock of shit! It is so fricken obvious to the rest of the world that the two of you are in love and only have eyes for each other that the mere thought that either one of you should be jealous of a meaningless friendship is purely ludicrous!!"

Scully dropped her jaw at his tirade and blinked in surprise. "Well," she stammered after he finally was quiet. "Tell me how you really feel."

"Don't get me started!" Nester blurted out. He was on a roll now. "I find it ridiculous that you would think Mulder slept with Diana. Have you ever seen Mulder have any physical contact with her? You … you on the other hand are out there hamming it up with Cramer and this Ethan guy right in front of Mulder's face. You don't think he's jealous and wondering what you are up too?" He paused for a moment and stared at her. "You know what that makes you?"

Scully swallowed hard and blinked back the tears. She had asked for this knowing full well that once Nester was riled up he wouldn't hold back. He's tendency to be brutally honest was one of his strong suits. His little speech made her feel like a complete chump. "I'm a fricken idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

Nester chuckled. "Well, that's one way to put it….although that's not how I was going to characterize it," he replied with a smile on his face.

"Oh, you have a better description? Like what I said earlier? A hypocrite?"

"No, it makes you fricken human that's all," Nester replied smugly. "Not to mention a little stupid."

"Geez. Thanks," Scully replied, rolling her eyes. Can ya just pour some more salt in the wound pal? she thought, careful to not vocalize this one. She stepped forward to say something else, when the door to the office suddenly opened. Scully felt her cheeks flush hot with the fear that someone, specifically Mulder, had heard their discussion from the hallway. She didn't have to wait long to find out.

After Mulder had finished discussing the tunnel and Zack's disappearance with Ben he reunited the boy with his parents in the conference room down the hall. He spoke to Ben's parents to explain the situation and detail what would happen next while Driscoll got the three refreshments from the vending machines. Then Mulder excused himself and walked to the Lieutenant's Office to debrief with Scully, Nester and Driscoll.

He was standing outside of the office door trying to listen to the muffled voices from within when Officer Gervase called for him from down the hall.

"Agent Mulder." Mulder turned around and walked a few steps to meet the officer. "Are you done with the Jacksons? I was going to run them over to the hotel," Gervase asked.

"Yeah, we're done with them for now," Mulder replied. "Can you go with Mr. Jackson to the house so he can pick up some personal items? Take an unmarked car."

"Sure, no problem. I'll have Bates or Anderson drop Ben and his mom at the hotel, while I go with Mr. Jackson," Officer Gervase said, walking backwards toward the conference room.

"Thanks, Gervase," Mulder said as he walked away. Driscoll stepped out of the conference room and headed in Mulder's direction. Mulder turned the knob of the lieutenant's office door, forgetting about the argument he had heard from within a few minutes earlier. The guilty expression on his partners' faces told him that he had walked in on something heated. Scully's face was flushed and Nester looked steaming mad. The two of them had a love-hate relationship that blended as well as oil and water at times.

"Did I interrupt something?" Mulder asked as he walked into the room. He caught the quick glance between the two of them before either answered.

"No," They responded in unison.

"Okay," Mulder replied slowly, not believing either. He looked back and forth between the two, checking for some secret sign. Geezus, I'm turning into my father, he thought as he watched his friends in silence. After a second, Driscoll walked into the room, oblivious to the tension that filled it.

"Okay, what's the kid's story?" Driscoll blurted out. "The parents had nothing interesting."

Mulder set the case file and video tape on the desk and sat down in an arm chair. He looked at Driscoll and sighed. "I think you should go first," he said flatly. "Let's start with the boring stuff."

Driscoll shut the door and walked over to the desk, settling himself on the edge of it. He caught the quick glances the three agents were giving each other and looked around at each of them.

"Did I interrupt something?" Driscoll said, totally confused.

"No!" Nester and Scully said in unison. Mulder said nothing, but had a guilty smirk plastered on his face.

"Just never mind," Nester finally coughed out as he walked around Mulder's chair and sat in the one across from the desk. Scully remained behind the desk, opposite all three men.

"Okay," Driscoll said turning his body to include Scully in on the conversation. "I don't have much. Mrs. Jackson said that Zack and his parents, David and Molly Jansen moved in about a year after they did. The two families became friends and spent a lot of time together. About nine months after they moved in, David Jansen was killed in a car accident, leaving Molly Jansen alone with her son, Jake. Shortly after that, she started having problems with the association for code violations and had told the Jacksons that she was thinking about selling her house and moving out," Driscoll remarked flatly. "Mrs. Jackson stated that one day she was driving down the street and saw a moving truck in the driveway and a 'For sale' sign in the front yard. She never saw either Zack or his mom again."

"And she didn't find that a little weird?" Nester questioned. "She claimed they were friends. Suddenly there's a moving van in the driveway and they don't say goodbye?"

Driscoll shook his head. "She and her husband both claimed Molly Jansen was a little odd, so they just chalked it up to her behavior." He shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Mulder.

"And your opinion, Agent Driscoll?" Mulder asked in an Assistant Director sort of way.

"Oh, they're definitely not being truthful," Driscoll replied. "Lot's of nervous activity between the two of them."

"Did you ask them why Ben was home schooled?" Scully piped in from behind them.

"Ah, yeah, I did," Driscoll said shuffling his note. "About two years ago he started having behavioral problems at school, getting into fights and other trouble. They pulled him out so his mom could give him more personal attention."

"But she doesn't," Scully interjected. "Mulder had me run a background check on her. She's been working as an accounting temp for the last year. That puts her out of the house at least three days a week."

"And leaves Ben unsupervised for most of the day," Mulder added processing the Scully's information.

"If the two of you would let me finish," Driscoll interrupted. "She told me that she took a part time job a year ago because they were in a financial bind. She and Ben work on his studies in the morning. She works Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons." Driscoll said matter-of-factly as his partners finally let him finish.

"Okay," Nester remarked slowly. "They're maintaining the code of silence like the rest of the neighborhood … which isn't any big revelation." He looked over at Mulder. "I hope you have something better to divulge."

Mulder nodded his head with a sly grin on his face. "Oh yeah, Ben was very forthcoming," he replied. "The puzzle pieces are all starting to fall into place."

Mulder stood up and stepped over to the desk. He picked up the case file from the desk top and pulled the subdivision map out for his partners viewing. Nester stood up and walked over to the desk to see what Mulder was looking at.

"Okay, we've already established that there is some type of entrance to the tunnels and the cavern over here by the maintenance shed," Mulder began, pointing to the park area on the map. "Apparently, Zack had found the entrance and was bragging about it to the kids at the park. He convinced Ben to go explore the tunnels with him one day after school." Mulder picked up the video tape and walked over to the VCR to start it back up. He fast forwarded the tape until he got to the cavern with the cars and then hit the pause button.

"He said they were in this cavern. Ben was standing between a car," Mulder pointed to a mound of dirt on the video screen, "... and the wall when he heard Zack scream. He looked up and saw a ….'man' grab Zack and drag him down the tunnel." Mulder looked around the room, making eye contact with Scully and Nester. Ben hadn't said a man… he had definitely described a large black creature. His description was identical to what Mulder had seen in Shroeder's front yard a few nights ago. Mulder could tell Scully knew what he was implying, and based on the glare she shot back at him, she still didn't believe it. Nester looked like he was still processing the information. Mulder continued with Ben's story, letting the facts sink in with his partners.

"Ben said he hid behind the car for several minutes until he no longer heard any screams from Zack or any other movement in the tunnels, and then climbed out and ran home. When he got home, he told his mother that something had happened to his friend. He convinced her to go back to the park with him, but when they got up there, he couldn't find the passage to the tunnel again. His mother told him that he was "just telling stories" and dismissed it. Ben never saw either Zack or his mom again. Then about a week later, his mom told him she had seen a moving van in their driveway and that they had moved away."

"The Tulpa," Nester muttered under his breath.

Mulder nodded, while Driscoll gave both men a bewildered look. "A what?" Driscoll questioned.

"A thought form," Nester began. "Something willed into existence by a master of an ancient type of Tibetan magic. Kinda like …. Frankenstein," he replied smugly. "Mulder, I still think you're crazy."

"Ditto," Scully quipped.

"How else would you explain it, then?" Mulder countered. "People are there one day and gone the next without a trace?"

"Kidnapped, murdered by the association president?" Nester offered.

"Wait a minute," Driscoll butted in. He had a perplexed expression on his face as he tried to keep up with the other three in the room. Mulder was an expert on the paranormal, so it would be logical this case would have a paranormal slant to it. But Frankenstein? "Are you trying to say that a modern day Frankenstein is killing people in this neighborhood?"

"Yes!" Mulder answered firmly

"No!" Scully blurted out at the same time.

Driscoll and Nester exchanged glances and looked at their cohorts. "Mulder..." Driscoll began, shaking his head.

"Dris, you of all people should believe me," Mulder interrupted. "You and your entire family believe that your aunt's spirit haunts your uncle's house! This shouldn't be such a stretch," Mulder remarked defensively.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa …" Driscoll barked calling for a timeout with his hands. "I never said I didn't believe you. I'm just ….. surprised at the theory," Driscoll explained calmly.

"Look there is definitely a pattern of events here," Mulder said picking up the case file. "Jansen's had code violations and the kid is caught snooping around where he shouldn't have been and they disappear. The Klines? The sister who reported the Klines missing stated they had multiple code violations. Big Mike warns us about the rule book and he disappears. Shroeder's yard light is burnt out and a ma…figure chases his wife across the front yard," Mulder recited from the file as he paced around the room. "How much do you want to bet that Acton did something as well?"

"Mulder, what about Sams?" Scully asked as she leaned against the desk. "He's had several code violations and he is still around."

"Ah, like I said the other day, he's too high profile," Mulder remarked calmly. "He's Navy. If he went missing, too many people would be here asking questions."

"Well, what about you?" Nester questioned as he lounged in the chair. "By your own admission you've broken a bunch of rules, but you're still here."

"Big Mike," Scully mumbled from the side of the room.

"What?"

"Well, we think that Big Mike is living in our crawl space, so he may have deflected any negative outcomes," Scully replied flatly.

"He's squatting in your basement?" Driscoll asked with arched eyebrows. "Doesn't he have his own house?"

"Well, he did until they cleaned it out," Mulder added, staring Scully down as he replied.

"Who are they?" Dris asked.

"The other association members, specifically Shroeder, Berlander and Vesch," Mulder said.

Scully looked down at her watch and checked the time. "Vesch! Shit Mulder …. we gotta go," she blurted out when she realized more than half the afternoon had melted away.

"Crap!" Mulder mumbled, looking at his watch as well. He handed the file to Dris and followed Scully to the office door. "We're having dinner with the Vesch's tonight, so I'll try to be the nosy neighbor while we're there.. I'll call you guys later tonight to catch up."

TBC