Scully felt utterly sick. If the tape hadn’t been around her mouth, she was sure she would throw up. He had warned her, but she had not listened. Cuts lined her arms, legs, and torso. Only small cuts, nothing that she would normally have treated or even looked at. Even so, blood ran down her body with the soap and water. That was how he was able to rape a woman and then get away with no fingerprints or… other evidence. Taking a bath right after a rape was often the mistake many women made. No proof. Simple, but effective. She almost felt like crying, but she couldn’t let the maniacal man break her spirits.  Mulder would come for her. There would be plenty of time for crying later.
    When he was finally done, he didn’t bother drying her off. Her soaking wet bra and underwear came back on. He didn’t even touch her. He started taking her somewhere. She floated down the stairs, through the house, and into a barn. He smiled as he tied her to a rope loop in one of the empty horse stalls. He laid her slowly onto the hay. The smell of manure was in the air. It was probably mixed in with the mud she felt touching her body. Either that or it was the mud.
    “You’ll stay here tonight, my dear. I would have buried you like my other visitors, but I just don’t have the time. Have to get up early for work, y’know. And I might like to use you later. Your performance tonight was… exemplary.”
    She felt numb, and not just from the chill of the air. He was going to do it to her again. He kissed her on the forehead and left. More than ever, she felt like crying, but she would not let the tears come. Oh, God. Mulder, where are you?

    Mulder was utterly frustrated. Searching every house, even when the search was narrowed down, was taking way too long. Scully could be dead now for all he knew. Don’t think that, he scolded himself. She’s still alive. But she might not be for long. There were only 6 search teams out there. And the few people not on the teams had to remain at the station to run things. 6 teams and about 160 houses. With each house taking up half the day. At this rate, he’d be lucky if they got this done by the end of the month. Well, at least it made him feel like he was doing something while he was waiting for the DNA results.
    It had been 2 days. They had searched a total of 24 houses by the end of the day. Everyone was irritable by the time they decided to call it a night. But Mulder stayed with the night shift. To look at the case reports. To see if he missed something. Anything.
    At about 1:30 that night, a woman approached him. “Agent Mulder? It’s late. You should go to back to your motel and get some sleep.”
    Mulder shook his head. “I’m pretty sure my partner’s not sleeping well tonight. What gives me the right to?”
    “You need to find her. You need to be rested. You can’t help her by exhausting yourself. Hell, you can't even concentrate if you’re tired.”
    “Leave me alone.”
    “Hey, you’re obviously not going to solve this staring at useless pieces of paper all night. All you’re doing is getting yourself angry, frustrated, and irritable. And, frankly, that won’t help anyone. Not me, not you, not your partner, and not the rest of the force. You wanna help us help you find your partner? If not for you, if not for her, do it for us. We don’t wanna see another cop die.”
    He looked her in the eye. “Who are you?”
    “Detective Mercy Jenkins.”
    He paused. “Aren’t you the second victim’s partner?”
    She nodded. I wanna find ‘em as much as you do. But you can’t do anything for them now. Go to bed, Agent Mulder. Save us all some trouble.”
    He smiled and got up. “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome. Goodnight, sir.”
    “Goodnight, Detective.”
    He left the station and drove to the motel.

    When he awoke the next morning, he really did feel better. He began to get ready. As he got out of the shower, his cell phone rang. He picked it up. “Mulder.”
    “Agent Mulder, this is Agent Watson at the FBI building in Lincoln.”
    “Yes?”
    “We have the results from the DNA test. If you would come down here to take a look at it? I have some business to attend to, so I’ll just leave it with the receptionist.”
    “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Finally! Now we’ll be getting somewhere. He began getting dressed.
    As he was putting on his tie, a knock came at the door. “Who is it?” he called.
    “Captain Whitaker.”
    Mulder opened the door and let him in. “What can I do for you, Captain?”
    “Nothin’ really. I just thought that my crew and I should start early, so we did. I was wonderin’ if you’d like to join us.”
    “I can’t. I’m going to Lincoln. The DNA test results are back.”
    “Well, that’s good news. Let me accompany you. I’ll just go over and tell the boys to stop doing random searches. I’ll be right back.”
    “We don’t have time for that. Every minute counts.”
    “Well, let me just radio in then.” He walked outside. Mulder followed, locking the door behind him. He then walked towards the captain.
    “Yeah. You tell them that, my dear… That’s fine. Good… I’ll need report on that as soon as possible. Talk to you later.” He turned off the radio. “Let’s go?”
    Mulder nodded. He let the captain drive, though he really would have preferred to do so himself. The ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. That was good, because the drive would take a couple of hours.

    Scully hurt all over her body, but it was the numb parts that she was worried about. She was so weak that she could barely move. Dirt surrounded her on five sides. She wasn’t in the barn, she knew that much. She tried looking up. Wooden boards.
    She was starving. Literally starving. She hadn’t eaten since her capture. How many days ago was that? He would lock her in a dark, dirty room. She had no track of time in there… She hadn’t had much to drink either. Just some of the water that slipped through the tape on her mouth while she was given a bath. Which amounted to maybe only a glass and a half. He had given her a cup of water, once. She wondered if the other victims were so lucky.
    She had begun to look forward to her baths. They provided much needed comfort. And water. Beautiful, clear, refreshing water. A couple of tears fell from her face. How pitiful her existence had become. Those baths came after being raped. That water had chemicals and microorganisms in it… But it kept her alive. I guess that’s all that matters right now. A sharp pain pierced her previously numb stomach. She attempted to look at it. Oh, my God… A huge gash had been cut across her stomach. If treated immediately, it would heal quite nicely with probably a scar. But who knew when she would be found… That one woman wasn’t found. That madman dropped her off at the police station… over 5 months after her capture. I’d never make it to 5 months, much less to the end of this week… But Mulder will find me… She looked at the wound again. In my condition, it’s fatal. Oh God, Mulder, it’s fatal.

    When they finally reached Lincoln, it was about 11am. They walked into the building.
    “Hey, I’ll be right back,” the captain said.
    “Where are you going?”
    “Men’s Room.”
    Mulder smiled. It was a long drive.
    He went over to the front desk. “Hi, I’m Agent Mulder.” He showed his badge. “I believe you have something for me.”
    “Ok, right. There you go.” The receptionist handed him a file.
    “Thanks.” He looked down to read it when something caught his eye. Alligator skin boots. He looked up at the owner’s face. The captain. He glanced down at the file and read “James and Jonathan Whitaker.” 2 names?