THE X-FILES - THE AD'S NEW LADY #12 in X-Files

SEARCHING MISS FLORIDA

Agent Mulder was up early going through the camera footage of the hotel searching for clues as to how the Miss Florida contestant could have disappeared. Staring at the computer screen, hoping to find something everyone else seemed to miss, he did not notice as agent Dana Scully stepped inside the room. "Looking at camera footage I see." Her suddenly talking behind him startled him and he swiftly turned around to look at her. 

"Dammit Scully, did you have to sneak up on me like that?" 

"I wasn't sneaking up on you Mulder." She sat down on the chair next to him and looked at the computer screen. "Did you find anything yet?" 

"No. I keep missing something."

They kept looking at the footage and then Dana stopped him. "Stop...right there." 

"What?" 

"Go back." Mulder rewinded the tape to where he was just before Scully asked him to stop. 

"What did you see?" 

"Look at the time frame. In the first frame it's 10:14 pm and then there is a time lapse of almost two hours before the next frame." 

"One hour and forty minutes. Someone tampered with the video footage. Do you think this is an inside job?" 

Scully peeked at the video again and then looked at Mulder convinced. "We'll have to find out."

- X -

Backstage at the hotel Julie and the other contestants were busy getting ready for their swim suit photo shoot and parade Julie sat on a chair dressed in a bright yellow bikini and a black sarong wrapped around her waist, having her make-up done by a make-up artist while a she had her nails sculptured by a nail technician. Barbara, the pageant CEO kept an eye on the girls when Skinner approached her. "Good morning Mrs. Sanders." 

"Good morning AD."

He admired Julie as she sat in the chair being pampered, something she wasn't used to unless she had to pay for it herself. "I see my agent is doing quite well." 

Barbara smiled contently. "She's a natural." 

"Agent Mulder had a look at the camera footage this morning."

"And could he find anything?" Barbara became noticeably tense. "The last thing I need is bad rep for the pageant because of this. People don't just disappear out of hotel rooms unless someone else is involved." 

"There is something you should see. There's a glitch in the footage."

"So you are telling me?" she asked concerned. 

"I don't know what to tell you yet. We need more evidence, but my agents are onto it. May I have a word with my agent?"

"Certainly." 

Barbara immediately left as Skinner walked up to Julie. His eyes raked over her body as she sat there with her eyes closed, enjoying every minute of her make up session and manicure. He felt the fluttering feeling in his stomach again, but this time it was accompanied with more intimate sensations he wished he could suppress and keep discreet. "Agent..."

She opened her eyes to look at him. "Sir." 

"I need to hotwire you." He cleared his throat and wanted to rephrase. "I mean I need to put a wire on you."

The make-up artist and nail technician looked at Skinner funny as if he just said something very inappropriate. "It's a listening device. It's not what you think," he explained himself feeling slightly awkward.