The Major studied X. “I don’t know you, and I never forget a face.”
“Unless we want you to.” X walked toward the Major. “It seems like you’re remembering a lot these days. Unfortunately, that’s a problem.” He slid a pair of black leather gloves out of his pocket and put them on. “And I’m a problem solver.”
The Major’s eyes went wide. “You’re one of them.” He took a step back. “What did you do to Sergio?”
“If I were you, I’d worry about yourself.”
“Whatever they promised you, it’s all lies,” the Major stammered. “They want our planet. Are you just going to hand it over to them?”
X moved closer. “The world is a pretty messed-up place.…”
The Major held his hands out in front of him. “I have a son. He needs me. Just give me a little time to make sure he’ll be all right.”
“Gary, right?” X asked, measuring the Major’s reaction. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a smart kid. We’re already keeping an eye on him.”
“Leave my boy alone, or I’ll find you in hell.” The Major’s tone turned to ice. “That’s a promise.”
“You’ve got a lot of fight in you, Major Winchester. It’s a shame you picked the wrong team.”
“You don’t have to do this.” The Major tried to take another step back, but there was nowhere left to go.
“It’s funny.… Your wife said exactly the same thing.” X tilted his head to the side. “You think that’s a coincidence?”
The Major’s expression clouded over. “There are no coincidences.”
He lunged at X, who pivoted to the side at the last possible moment. As the Major charged past him, X moved behind. In a rapid succession of movements, he reached over the Major’s shoulder and grabbed his chin, then caught the back of the man’s head with his other hand and jerked his hands in opposite directions. “I agree.”
X felt the vertebrae crack, and he let the Major’s body fall to the floor in a heap.
Now the real work began. X ripped the newspaper articles and photos of fake UFOs off the walls. He didn’t have anything against the Major’s amateur private investigator status, but he didn’t have time to wade through all this crap. So it all had to go.
The basement was next. A heavy-duty cable and padlock secured the door. X should’ve brought along a pair of bolt cutters. The nice thing about conspiracy theorists who were anticipating an alien invasion was that they always had plenty of emergency supplies. And they kept them in the same spot in the kitchen as everybody else.
“The cupboard under the sink,” X said as he bent down to open it. He picked up the red fire extinguisher and marched back to the basement door. He brought the base of the fire extinguisher down hard against the top of the lock.
Once.
Twice.
Three times—and it broke off.
X’s boss wanted a specific file. Number 12179. “It will have ‘El Rico Air Force Base’ stamped on the front.”
Easy enough.
The light switch at the top of the stairs had been removed, leaving the wiring exposed. With the basement door open, X could see well enough to navigate the stairs and locate the chain dangling from a bare bulb at the bottom. He pulled the chain, and a panel of fluorescent lights on the ceiling turned on one by one.
The entire room was full of cardboard file boxes stacked ten high. A commercial copy machine was wedged between stacks of green paperback books. X picked one up.
“Stormbringer? You were some kind of crazy, Major Winchester.” He opened a file box and took out one of the cream-colored files.
#12179. EL RICO AFB.
X pulled out two more, then opened another box and checked those. Every folder was labeled the same way.
#12179. EL RICO AFB.
“You won this round, Major.” He stopped in front of the wall across from the stairs.
The Major had written a message in huge black letters.
CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH???
“You’ll never find out,” X said as he pulled the chain under the lightbulb and walked up the stairs.
X retrieved his blazer from where he’d left it draped over the banister and slipped it on. He strolled through the kitchen and stopped at the stove. From the interior pocket of his blazer, he pulled out the gift from the boss.
Nothing extravagant. Just practical.
A simple turn of a knob and the burner ignited. X leaned over with the Morley between his lips and lit the cigarette. One drag, and he headed to the back door. A halo of orange flames danced on the burner as he flicked the Morley onto the kitchen floor.
He was halfway down the alley behind the brownstones when Major Winchester’s kitchen exploded, taking the rest of the house with it in a matter of seconds.
X thought about the Major’s kid. He was almost eighteen, and in DC, you only had to be seventeen to be legally declared an adult.
The kid will be okay.
But X did have one regret.
I should’ve taken the Enterprise.
CHAPTER 28
Outside the Mulder Residence
5:55 P.M.
The black sedan with the tinted windows was parked across the street from Bill Mulder’s apartment.