Please Don't Kill Her Part 3 of 4 by tbishop27@aol.com Disclaimer: See Part 1 Even matted with dried blood that flaming red hair was unmistakably Dana Scully's. Skinner could hear Fox Mulder throwing up out in the hallway. It was all he could do not to join him. He wretched and gagged until it hurt. His stomach was already empty. The last thing Mulder had consumed was a cup of coffee yesterday morning. Scully! Oh Jesus! Scully! I'm so sorry.. I'll never forgive myself for letting this happen to you. I failed you. I failed. Oh Jesus...Oh God.... You can't be dead. You can't. You can't be gone. Please, God, give her back to me and I promise I'll never fail her again. Scully! I can't do this...I can't do this without you. Mulder sat down with his back to the wall, drew his knees up close against his chest and hugged them. The sobs came from somewhere deep inside. From the place where his soul had once been. It was gone now of course. It died with Scully. All that was left of him was a body to hold his pain and sadness, a vessel for his guilt. The thing he'd feared most had come true. He hadn't been able to save her. She was gone. In his anguish, he could not escape the images now flooding his mind of the many victims of Jordan Thomas Hebert. The unrelenting sadistic persecution and brutal physical torment those women knew in their final hours of life was difficult enough to have witnessed but now to know that Scully had endured a similar horror....How was he supposed to live with that? What grievous hell had she suffered, frightened beyond reason, at the hands of that psychotic butcher? Scully. I'm so...so sorry. I swear to you I will hunt him down and .... ". . . . Mulder. Did you hear me, Agent Mulder?" What? What's Skinner saying? Can't the man just leave me alone...Just go away and let me die right here. "It's not her, Mulder. Do you hear me?" "What?" Did he just say what I thought he said? "Her kidnapper's playing games with you. That isn't Scully in there. Right hair, wrong face." Even though he knew Skinner wasn't lying to him, Mulder had to see this miracle for himself. He got to his feet and went back into the locker. Skinner had completely unwrapped the head. Sure enough, the face there did not belong to his Scully. You murdering bastard! Is this your warped idea of a joke? Who is this poor woman whose life you took just to keep your little game going with me? I've had enough of this. I'm going to find you and take you down once and for all. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Scully was exhausted. She was hungry and thirsty and the pain from her over full bladder had become increasingly hard to ignore. She didn't know how long it had been since Hebert had taken the photos of her, but It felt like quite a few hours had passed. When he did finally come around and open the door again, Dana surprised herself by speaking first. "I need to go to the bathroom. I have to. I can't wait anymore." And then she got another surprise. "All right." He took out a big hunting knife from the sheath at his hip. For one horrible moment Scully thought he was going to kill her right then and there. Hail Mary, full of grace... But instead he bent down and cut loose the ropes that held her legs. "Stand up." He didn't need to say it twice. Scully scrambled to her feet. "This way." He lead her out into the room where he had beaten her. This time she took more notice of her surroundings. This was a living room or a family room of some kind. There was a couch and some end tables and a wing back chair. In one corner of the room a camcorder mounted on a tripod stood facing a wooden dining type armchair. The thought of why it might be there sickened her. As he led her through the room she also noticed her badge, her purse and her cell phone sitting off to one side, on one of the end tables next to the couch. Her gun, she noted as they passed through the kitchen, was on the table right next to...Okay, Dana, you had better start thinking of a way out of this. One guess who that's for... a black and white Voodoo. Same as the ones he'd marked his victims with before, except this one had yet to undergo decapitation. Scully forced herself to continue on as if she hadn't noticed Soon they came to a door that opened under the stairs. "It's in there." He told her impatiently. She looked at him pleading. "Can I have my hands back for a couple of minutes?" He thought for just a second then grabbed her roughly by the arm and twisted her around. A quick slash of that razor sharp knife and her hands were free. "Try anything, darlin', and I'll show you what else I know how to do with this knife." he whispered into her ear. Then he gave her a hard shove forward. Scully went into the small, windowless powder room and closed the door. Relief at last. Now I can concentrate on figuring a way out of this. Obviously I'm not going to overpower him. I doubt he'd let me get anywhere near my gun. Now my cell phone...if I could manage to get over by the couch. Mulder's just one button away. No. I haven't heard it ring since I've been here. He must have turned it off. Damn it! That's going to make it a lot harder. But I have to try. "Hurry up in there!" He pounded on the door. "Coming!" She flushed the toilet and glanced in the mirror as she fixed her clothing. Don't you look pretty, Dana. I'm sorry I looked. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Mulder was sitting on the passenger side of Skinner's car, his feet still on the ground outside the open door. The A.D. had called in his people to take care of the remains they'd found in the locker. A team was going over the place for evidence. Questioning the attendant only confirmed what they already knew. They were dealing with Jordan Hebert. Mulder rested his elbows on his knees and pressed the palms of both hands against his tired eyes. The stress of the last day and a half had turned his body against him. There wasn't a place that he didn't ache. Hebert certainly is a master. I wonder how much more he has in store for me? What am I saying? Can you be anymore self-absorbed, Mulder? What kind of a selfish bastard am I? What I'm going through is inconsequential. Scully's with HIM. The devil. At the mercy of a man incapable of such higher psycho-social functioning. God knows what she must be going through. And I'm worrying about my own suffering? Nice, Mulder, real nice. How does she put up with me? The sound of dress shoes on asphalt. Mulder looked up to see Skinner standing there. "You look like hell, Agent." Not that you don't have every right to. "You should see the view from the inside." "I reviewed the case file on this guy, Hebert, last night. You said he scares you. Now I know why." Mulder pulled the photos of Scully from his shirt pocket and offered them to Skinner. "I found these waiting for me by my door this morning." The A.D. winced as he looked at the subject in those photos. He drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment. And then he let it out in one big huff of despair. He started to say something then Mulder's cell phone rang and the thought was lost. Heart racing, he press the phone to his ear. "Mulder." No reply. He could hear something in the background though. A conversation. A man talking. Was that Hebert? A second later he heard a voice he knew better than his own. Scully! 'I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting here.' He heard her say. He mouthed 'Trace it' to Skinner as he strained to hear the dialog on the other end of the line. The man's voice grew louder. It was Hebert all right. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Scully couldn't believe her luck. After leading her back into the living room, Hebert had actually shoved her down onto the sofa, only inches from her cell phone, and told her to stay there as he busied himself with his video camera. While he was looking through the view finder, she took advantage of his momentary distraction and snatched up the phone, hiding it under one of the throw pillows beside her. Eyes never leaving the man who stood only a few feet away, she slowly ran her fingers over the buttons she knew by heart. That one! That one turns it on. She pushed it down deep into the sofa cushion as she activated the device. All the while praying he wouldn't hear the tone as the apparatus came to life. He didn't. Thank you, God. Next she found the first speed dial button. It was programed to Mulder's cell phone number. She pushed it and then prayed he would answer. That was all she could do. She replaced the phone back on the table before he could miss it. She was suddenly sure that he saw what she'd done. "What are you doin' over there?" He glared at her. "I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting here." She swallowed hard. Shit, he's looking at the phone. I need to buy time here. If, by some miracle, Mulder's tracing this call right now, I have to make sure he has enough time for a complete trace. "What is it you're doing exactly?" "Just getting the camera ready. We're gonna make a little home movie for your partner, Agent Mulder. You wouldn't want him to miss all the fun, would ya, sugar?" "You're just having way too much fun, aren't you, Hebert?" "I am. I truly am. I only wish I had been able to see the look on poor Agent Mulder's face when he unwrapped that the package I left for him. She weren't near as pretty as you, Miss Scully, but I do believe I captured your exact shade of red. I bet that partner of yours went nearly outta his pretty boy mind before he realized J.T. was just a havin' fun with him." "You didn't?" God, she hated this man. She really hated him. It took all her strength of will not to leap up off the couch at that moment and attack him. "I did." He smiled that purely evil smile of his. "Oh, my God. Poor Mulder." She felt sick at the thought of what this man had put her partner through. "Poor you. This time I won't be a pullin' his leg." He came closer. "It's time, darlin'. Time for your atonement. And don't you worry none. You're in the hands of an expert. Nothin' but the best for you, Agent Scully. Shall we begin?" Oh, Mulder, if you're hearing any of this please hurry. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Faster!" Mulder had been listening intently to the conversation taking place on the other end of the line while Skinner drove, as fast as he could manage in D.C. traffic, toward the location the trace had pinpointed. "I'm going as fast as I can." "You have to go faster!" Scully needed him now. He'd been given his miracle back at the cold storage locker. Scully had been given back to him and now he had to keep his part of the deal. He couldn't fail her. He'd promised never to fail her again. It was a promise he intended to keep. He couldn't make out what was being said anymore. The voices were too far away. But then he heard Scully cry out in pain. She screamed a horrendous out of control sound that made him drop the phone and not want to pick it up again. He covered his ears and rested his head on the dash. I can't...I can't bear to listen. I can't stand to hear him torture her. "What is it? What happened?" Skinner demanded not really wanting to hear the answer. "He's torturing her." He anguished. "He's killing her." "It's not much further, Mulder. About another six blocks." "Hurry. Please hurry." He said it with almost no voice at all. On the seat beside him he could still hear Scully's screams over the discarded cell phone. Please don't kill her... End of Part 3 Send feedback to tbishop27@aol.com (Flames will be forwarded to that dark part of my writer's imagination that roams the night in search of victims.)