FBI HEADQUARTERS,
WASHINGTON DC.
"Any idea why Kersh wants to see us, John?" asked FBI Agent Monica Reyes as she and her partner, FBI Agent John Doggett headed for his office.
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Doggett in his usual growl, "but I hope it gets us out on the road. I've been going stir crazy stuck indoors these past few weeks."
"Please be seated," said FBI Deputy Director Alvin Kersh when they entered his office, eyeing them beadily as he did so. There was no love lost between him and these particular agents.
"I believe you know Charles J. Boudreaux, Agent Reyes," said Kersh, without preamble. "What can you tell me about him?"
"Chuck..." she began, "...that is, Agent Boudreaux, and I worked together during my time at the bureau's New Orleans office. Last I heard, he'd been transferred to the Baltimore office."
"So you were colleagues?"
"Yes." said Reyes, wondering where Kersh was going with this. "Just colleagues? Or were you more?"
"What is this?" demanded Doggett. "Surely Agent Reyes' private life is her own affair?"
"Ordinarily, yes," replied Kersh, looking at Doggett with distaste, "but recent events in Baltimore have made it FBI business. So, Agent Reyes, which was it?"
"We were lovers," admitted Reyes. "It was a short affair, but I retain the greatest respect and affection for Agent Boudreaux. Is he in some sort of trouble?"
"You could say that," replied Kersh, dryly. "Charles Boudreaux vanished without trace three months ago. No one had seen hide nor hair of him until yesterday afternoon when a fortuitously placed traffic camera caught him exiting a barbershop in Baltimore. You will have seen on the morning news that local gangster Vincent Clay and his two bodyguards were gunned down in a Baltimore barbershop yesterday in what has all the hallmarks of a professional hit. It was the same barbershop. The owner, Mr. del Florio, witnessed the shootings and has confirmed that Boudreaux was the shooter."
"This can't be," said Reyes, in a shocked voice. "The Chuck Boudreaux I knew was a sweet, gentle man. I can't believe he would do such a thing."
"It gets worse. Ballistics have matched the bullets from the bodies of Clay and the others to those from several other gangland killings over the past three months. Interestingly, the victims in those cases were all rivals of Clay's. Which suggests Boudreaux may have gone rogue on us, that he may be conducting a one-man vigilante war on crime. We want to know why and, more importantly, we want him stopped."
"So you want us to use Agent Reyes knowledge of Boudreaux to help apprehend him," said Doggett.
"Yes. But, that's not the only reason to send you up to Baltimore," said Kersh. "There's also a missing persons case to investigate. One Darryl Johnson, a traveling salesman, was reported missing three days ago. He checked into the Baltimore Marriott but never checked out. Ordinarily, the bureau wouldn't get involved unless there was evidence of foul play, which there isn't. However, Johnson was last seen leaving the main hotel with a woman, one who was caught on tape by their security cameras."
Kersh picked up a TV remote from his desk, turning on the TV and VCR in the corner of his office. The tape showed a man and a woman walking along a hotel corridor, their faces perfectly clear as they passed the camera, at which point Kersh freeze-framed the image. While the man was a stranger they all recognized the woman.
"That's you, Monica!" said Doggett, turning to his partner in amazement.
"It isn't," said Reyes, "It can't be."
"Can't be, and isn't," said Kersh. "You and Agent Doggett were here in DC working in this very building at the time indicated on the tape, something confirmed by our own logs. Do you have a twin sister we weren't informed about, Agent Reyes?"
"No...", said Reyes, staring at the image intently. "At least not that I know of."
"Well, your secondary objective will be to look into this," said Kersh. "If it turns out foul play was involved we can claim it as a case for the bureau, but as it stands missing persons are the responsibility of local law enforcement. When you get to Baltimore make sure you report in to Woodrow Billings, who heads up our local office there."
Reyes winced at the name, something only Doggett noticed.
"That will be all." said Kersh, dismissing them.
When they left the office, Reyes turned to Doggett.
"John," she said, a mixture of pain and hope in her eyes, "that really could be my twin sister."
"Don't do this to yourself, Monica," said Doggett, "We've both seen too much to leap to that conclusion without a lot of proof."
"You know my history; how I was born in Austin but raised in Mexico, and how I don't know who my real parents were. Isn't it possible I'm one of a pair of twins, separated at birth? John, she may know who my parents are. She may have been raised by them."
"Why did you wince when Kersh mentioned that guy," asked Doggett, deliberately changing the subject, "Woodrow Billings, was it?"
"Someone else I once knew. He wasn't the only reason I transferred from the New York office to New Orleans, but he was one of them."
"What happened?"
"Harassment. He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
"Did you report him?"
"No, I didn't."
"Why not? The bureau has policies against that sort of thing."
"It's obvious you're not a woman," sighed Reyes. "Yes, the bureau has policies against sexual harassment but if you embarrass them you're accused of not being a team player and you can pretty much forget advancing any further. It's hard enough anyway if you're female. And, yes, I know the Bureau also has policies concerning equal rights."
They had been talking as they walked and had now reached the basement office where the X-files were hidden away. Reyes opened the door to find a familiar figure waiting for them.
"Dana?" she said, in some surprise.
"Hello, Monica, Agent Doggett," said FBI Agent Dana Scully, "I gather Deputy Director Kersh has just briefed you on recent events in Baltimore."
"Yes," said Doggett, "but how does that involve you?"
"He asked me if, with this double of Monica, we could be dealing with an X-file," said Scully, "and we could." She handed a file to him. He read the name on it and frowned.
"'The Medallion of Zulo'?" he said. "What the heck's that?"
"A mystic artifact capable of changing the form of one person into that of another," said Reyes.
"Huh? How'd you know that?" asked Doggett.
"I've heard of it, but I didn't know it had it's own X- file." said Reyes. "I'm reading all the X-files but I haven't got that far yet."
She turned to Scully.
"So you don't think this woman is my sister?"
"Oh, Monica, I know how much it would mean to you if she was," said Scully, "but, no, I don't. And I don't think her appearing so close to the hit on Clay by Boudreaux, someone you know, is a coincidence, either. Somebody is trying to lure you to Baltimore. It may be that neither Boudreaux or this woman are who they appear to be, hence my suspicion the medallion may have surfaced again. I have to go now - I still have a class to teach at Quantico - but I'd urge you both to be very, very, careful. If you are being lured to Baltimore, it won't be for the good of your health."