Chapter 21

"Is Jane in some kind of trouble?" Scully's voice was sharp and her blue eyes narrowed – sizing up the stranger, who was dressed in jeans and a plain white button-down shirt. He looked to be in his mid-30's; tall – at least 6'2", but his face was half-hidden by glasses with tinted lens and a baseball cap pulled low.

"Uh – well, not exactly," was the cryptic reply.

Andy stepped in. "Let's take this to my office." He directed Scully to take his chair, which was more comfortable and indicated that their guest should sit across from her. As Scully got settled, Andy closed the door and took a position between the two. "You don't live here do you Mr. Burnett? I don't believe that I've seen you around."

Steven shifted nervously in his seat. "No – no sir. I don't live here. I'm in Boston, actually. I – uh – dated Jane but we – I mean – I broke up with her a couple months ago." His expression was strained.

Scully leaned forward. "I just started working with Jane but she did tell me that things had ended badly because you were upset that she hadn't been able to get over her first love." Scully couldn't hide the quiet reproof in her voice and Steven picked up on it instantly.

"Taking her side? Did she happen to mention how she'd swear to me on her mother's grave that she loved me – only me?"

"Why didn't you believe her?" Andy asked, curious in spite of himself.

"She kept calling me by his name," Steven replied in disgust. "Usually while we were in bed having sex," he added bluntly.

Andy winced. Low blow on Jane's part. He thought he might start to feel sorry for the guy.

Steven went on. "She'd give me all kinds of excuses and promises but I just finally had enough." He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. "Look – if I'm not your Mr. Right – fine. 'Let's go our separate ways,' I'd tell her, but she wouldn't do that. I'm trying to salvage some dignity and she's begging for another chance. When she did it again – I lost it. I threw her out and told her to go back to the guy since he was all she talked about." He rolled his eyes at the memory. "I don't know if I've ever been as angry as I was that night."

"Okay," Scully relented, "but what brings you in now?"

Steven hung his head – this part probably wasn't going to look too good for him. "I haven't seen or spoken to her since that fight, but I eventually calmed down and I decided that I wanted to get rid of the stuff that she left at my place."

Scully raised an eyebrow.

Steven caught it. "I'm not a bad guy – I didn't trash her things, okay. She had a bunch of my photos that she somehow convinced my mom to let her have and I came to make a trade. A calm – civilized exchange. So I went over to her place this morning, knocked loudly – several times but she never answered. I checked the garage – no car – nothing. Figured it was for the best – save us a confrontation – then I went in."

"You broke in?! Are you crazy?!" Andy exclaimed, his voice loud and sharp.

"What were you thinking?" Scully added, sounding equally appalled.

"No – no!" Steven hastened to explain. "I have the key she gave me." He took a deep breath. "My mom was really upset with me for not getting the pics back – there were a lot from when I was a kid – and frankly I didn't like the idea of her having them. All I was going to do was get my stuff and leave the key behind – that's ALL – I swear!"

Andy raised his hand, cutting Steven off with a pained expression. "Enough. Fine – you just wanted to get your things back. So let's get to the point of your visit, here."

Scully grit her teeth, struggling to keep her patience in check.

Steven went on, shifting nervously in his chair. "I'd never been in her place here and I realized that if my stuff wasn't sitting out – then I'd have to start digging around her place. I was careful – I wasn't trying to mess anything up."

He swallowed. "I went in her 'office' and laying out on her desk were all these clippings about some women that had been killed here."

Andy and Scully exchanged glances but made no comment.

Steven continued. "I don't know why she felt the need to make a scrap book about it. Moving on, I found a box filled with manuscripts and a bunch of reject letters from publishers – she actually named the main character after the guy she's been pining over. Can you believe that?!"

"Would you have rather she named him after you?" Andy asked, incredulous.

"Hell no!" Steven retorted, "But how does it look – you know?"

Scully nodded.

"So now I'm trying to find my photos and I open another box. For a minute I thought I'd found them but - " He broke off suddenly, unsure how to proceed.

"But what?" Andy prodded. "Why did you think they were you?"

"Because the guy looked just like me! And then it hit me – It was him! It's the guy she never got over – it was William! Now it all made sense – now I know exactly how I'd been used."

Andy shook his head. "Wait a sec. What are you talking about? How were you being used?"

"I was a substitute – I look just like her precious 'William'!" He slammed an 8x10 enlargement of a high school photo.

Scully and Andy moved in closer to see.

Scully was glad that she was already sitting down because when she read the name on the photo, she felt the blood empty from her head and her heart began pounding so hard that it was almost unbearable.

Andy was frozen in disbelief.

Steven stood up, removing his hat and glasses and placed another high school picture down. "They say we all have a twin in this world. Here's mine."

Scully felt and sounded like she'd had the all of breath knocked out of her. "Mulder." Her voice was blank with disbelief and growing horror as she dragged her unwilling eyes from the photo of Fox William Mulder in his graduation cap and gown to Steven's. The resemblance was absolutely uncanny.

Steven pulled out another picture of Mulder, a more recent shot, which Jane had apparently taken with a telephoto lens as he was talking with her on their front porch. Steven flipped the picture over to show what Jane had written.

"My William – you don't need her. Don't you realize that this is all for you?"

Icy splinters twisted in her stomach and she thought she might be sick as a fresh wave of panic overtook her. With sudden, chilling certainty she knew that it was Jane. It was coming together. Jane was the killer.

Andy sank down on the desk feeling like someone had just kicked his legs out from under him. "Why?"

"She's in love with Mulder – it – it must have started as a crush – Mulder was always around her growing up since he was her brother's best friend." Scully's voice was bleak with shock. She looked up at Steven – she couldn't stop staring – he had Mulder's hazel eyes and their hair color was almost the same. "You were right, Steven. She used you but when you broke up with her – she couldn't take it."

"What?" Steven gaped in open mouthed shock. "She's killing women because I dumped her?!"

Andy shook his head – he saw what Scully was saying. "Not directly."

"It's a long story." Scully whispered, "One we can't explain right now." She stood up. "Mulder – we've got to find him!" She jerked her gaze over to Andy, her face reflecting the growing dread. "He's with her right now."

The sheer horror on her face galvanized Andy into action. "Don't worry – we'll find him!"

Scully's innate calm was shattered when it came to Mulder's safety and she was overwhelmed with the feeling that it would be too late.