The Loop

Chapter Nine

Scully let her eyes adjust to the bright light, and once she was able to see, she immediately turned around and headed towards Mulder. As she got there, she saw that he was reaching into his pocket. Following his lead, she reached into hers as well, pulling out the note she had taken from the man. A bit astounded that it was still there, she looked back up at Mulder, who was examining the key.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked. Mulder turned the key around in his hands a few times and spoke.

"This is a car key. His car must be somewhere out in the parking lot. I think we should go find it." he concluded, turning his gaze towards Scully, who lifted her eyebrows.

"Find his car?" she asked, and as Mulder shook his head in agreement, Scully looked around for the parking lot, finding it behind Mulder. It didn't look too full, but there was a fair amount of cars in it. "Mulder, there has to be at least twenty cars out there. Trying that key on every single one of them would take forever! Not to mention that he may not have even parked his car in this parking lot. What if he parked it down the road?" Mulder raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we don't really have much of a choice. Besides, if we don't find the car before the loop resets, we'll already know where we've looked and can continue from there. We'll find it eventually." he said, and with that, turned around and began to walk to the parking lot. Rolling her eyes but also seeing no other choice, Scully reluctantly followed after him, hoping that they would find the car soon.

After a few minutes walk, the two reached the parking lot and began their search. They tried the first few cars closest to them, but none of them were it. They continued on down the second row, and then the third, but to no avail. They had managed to set off a few car alarms, though.

They approached the fifth row, having skipped the fourth since no one had parked there. There were three cars in this row, the last three left in the parking lot. The two closest to them were only a few spot away from each other, but the third was parked all the way down at the end, yards and yards away. Scully took this in, narrowing her eyes and staring at the third car.

"Mulder, why don't we try that one first?" she asked, pointing to the third car. Mulder turned to look at it, then turned back to Scully.

"But what if it isn't the right car? We'll have to walk all the way back over here to try these two." he reasoned.

"Think about it, Mulder. This man came here most likely knowing that he was probably going to commit suicide. Just think of the type of person he might've been. I just feel like he would've parked all the way over there, away from everyone else, if he even parked here at all." she said. Mulder stared at her for a second, taking in what she said, then nodded his head.

"I guess that seems possible. Let's go check it out then." he replied, and then the two began their walk towards the third car.

Once there, Mulder stood next to the passenger side door, then turned back to look at Scully.

"Cross your fingers." he said, then put the key into the lock. It slid in. Then, he twisted it, and miraculously, the door unlocked. Mulder pulled out the key, grabbed the handle, and then pulled open the door. He looked at Scully, beaming. "Nice call, Scully." he said as he pocketed the key, causing Scully to blush a bit.

Mulder leaned down into the car and pressed the unlock button so that Scully could get in and have a look as well. Just as Scully opened the car's back door, Mulder let out a loud cough, startling her. She turned to face Mulder, who was now leaning against the open door, head down as he continued to cough roughly. After a few long seconds he stopped, drawing in a deep breath and scrunching up his face in what looked like pain. Scully felt a tightening in her chest as she began to panic a bit.

"You okay, Mulder?" she asked, moving towards him. Mulder straightened up and cleared his throat, turning to her and holding his hand out to stop her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said, shaking his hand dismissively. Scully, a bit skeptical, hesitantly decided to drop the subject and just get back to investigating. She turned back towards the car and peered inside, the sight shocking her a bit. There were copious amounts of paper strewn across the back seat, some littering the floor. She reached down into the car, choosing a piece at random, and read it. It seemed to be some sort of medical bill. As she glanced around at the other papers, she noticed that they all seemed to be medical bills as well.

"Scully, check this out." Mulder said a few seconds later. She leaned further into the car and looked up at the front to see Mulder, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned to face her, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "It's a note. It says, "Donnie, if you don't have the money you owe Charlie by 6 pm on Saturday, then we have no choice but to kill you. Sorry man, but it's the boss's orders. Wish you luck though." Well if that isn't the most mob sounding letter I've ever read." Mulder finished, looking amused as he set down the note and continued to look around for more clues. A few things clicked for Scully as she heard the names in the letter, one name in particular standing out.

"Mulder, look," she began, holding out the medical bill she had first picked up. "this is a medical bill for a women named Melody, but billed to a man named Donnie. They both have the same last name, see." she said, pointing to the names on the bill. Scully then set the bill down in front of him on the middle console as she gauged his reaction. Mulder looked up at her and opened his mouth, seeming like he was about to say something, when suddenly, everything went black.