we're here for other reasons than
eating." Of course, eating would be a pretty good reason,
he thought as the scent of chili danced over his sinuses.
After introducing himself and Scully, Mulder said, "We're
looking into an incident that took place in the Pepper
Hotel. A man named Kevin Cross got a bad fright from
something he saw."
"Oh...yeah," Geena said, twisting her hands together
behind her back.
"We understand that there was a little incident involving
him here as well."
"That was nothing
marlboro golds," Geena said quickly. "Nothing at all."
"What was it exactly?" Scully asked.
Geena's attempt at an answer was interrupted by the
appearance of a tall man in his early twenties. He had a
handsome and appealing face, but his long body moved in an
awkward fashion. He came across as someone caught between
the clumsiness of adolescence and the strength of adulthood.
He marched up to them, with his long hair in a bound
ponytail and wearing an apron splattered with chili sauce.
Mulder felt an odd urge to lick the apron. "Is there a
problem..." he started to say, then tripped over a
customer's foot protruding into the aisle. He stumbled for
a few feet, flailing his arms. Just as he reached Geena's
side, he straightened himself up. "Is there a problem
here?" he asked, as if nothing had happened.
"It's all right, Dale," Geena assured him.
"Are you sure?" Dale asked in a low voice, looking at
Mulder and Scully with suspicion. In fact
marlboros cigarettes wholesale, quite a few of
the customers in Chili Heaven were watching the Yankees in
their territory.
"They're FBI agents," Geena told him, knotting her hands
tighter together.
"Oh." For a few moments, Dale shuffled on his feet. Then
he looked at Geena's nervous face and straightened himself
out again. "Well, what do you want with Geena?" he asked
defiantly.
"We were asking her about Kevin Cross," Scully replied.
Dale's head sunk towards his shoulders as if he was
tucking it in like a turtle. "You...you want to ask her
about that?"
"We can talk to you about it instead," Mulder said in an
easy-going voice. "Would you like that?"
"Uh..."
"Dale! Geena!"
All heads turned to the big man standing at the kitchen
door.
"You two get back to work," the big man said. "I'll answer
the questions of these folks."
Geena nodded, then ran off to a table while taking out her
pad and paper. Dale looked at her protectively and the FBI
agents scornfully before going to the kitchen.
The big man walked towards Mulder and Scully, growing
larger in their sight with each step. Don't eat us
carton of newport cigarettes, Mulder
found himself thinking.
Then he stopped before them, smiled in a very sincere way
and said
wholesale marlboros cigarettes, "I'm Vic Franklin. I'm the owner of this place.
Care to sit down?" He indicated an empty table. Scully
thanked him and they all sat at the table.
"So...what can I do for you?"
After Mulder explained who they were and why they were in
Pepper, Vic said, "Oh. That. Well, there was a little
incident. Mr. Cross got a tad burned on his chili and he
lost his t