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

SNOOPING ON ARIZONA

Mulder was sitting in his hotel room looking up on Miss Florida on the internet and wrote down the info he could find about her on a notepad. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed. A knock on the door alerted him of someone outside and he got up to answer the door. It was Skinner. "Agent Mulder, may I come in. I need to talk to you for a moment." 

Mulder opened the door and let Skinner in. He noticed the picture of Miss Florida on the laptop along with an article and info on her. "What are you doing?" 

"I just got some interesting info on Miss Florida."

"And that is?" Skinner asked curiously. 

"She's a PETA activist, an anti-nuclear activist and she is an advocate for women's rights and anti-corruption."

"I don't see this a motive for someone to want to get her out of the competition." 

"Yes, but...what are beauty pageants about these days?"

"Beautiful girls I guess," Skinner shrugged. 

"No. The days that beauty queens just entered these competitions for the looks are long gone. Today it's all about standing up for a cause and there's a lot of politics involved. Maybe she was stepping on some toes and someone felt threatened by her presence in the pageant so they made her disappear. I don't think there is anything supernatural or unexplained to this." 

"But we might be onto something bigger. Gemma Harper, Miss Arizona. She's a nuclear science student. You might get some info on her too." 

- X -

Down in the hotel club, Julie was mingling with the other girls and having fun. Dancing to the music that filled the air, strutting her stuff. Miss Arizona grabbed her by the hand. "Let's go get some drinks!"

The music was too loud and Julie could hardly hear her. "What?"

Gemma moved in closer. "I said, let's go get some drinks!" 

She practically dragged Julie towards a table where two other contestants sat sipping on their cocktails. "So Miss DC, what will you have?" 

"I'll have a Mojito." 

Gemma sat down giggling. "So who's the old dude who was with you back stage?"

Julie had to make up something and quick. The girls were not allowed to have boyfriends on stage and besides that, Skinner was practically too old to be her boyfriend, and telling them he was her boss, which was the truth also seemed a little too awkward. Who brings their boss along to pageants? "It's my father." 

"I see." 

"He just came to wish me luck before I went onstage." 

"I wish my father was as supportive of my beauty career as yours is," Gemma replied. 

"So what does he do for a living? He seems like a very smart man." 

Julie hated their suspect asking her all sorts of tricky questions regarding Skinner, but she had to find a way to answer them as realistically as possible and try and turn the tables to ask as much questions as possible to get info on Miss Arizona too. "He's a doctor."

"That is hot! I love a man in a lab coat. I've always wanted to date a doctor." 

Julie had to come up with an excuse quick when she realized that Miss Arizona had something going for her boss. "He's married, and besides that, he's not interested in younger women. So what does your father do for a living." 

"He is a nuclear weapons engineer." 

"Serious?"

"Yeah. Some of his projects are top secret. Getting that leaked out would be a threat to national security."

"Impressive." Julie had her where she wanted her. 

"I am so glad Miss Florida is out of the competition. Her first runner-up is replacing her." 

"Why?" 

Gemma gave Julie a dumbfounded look. "Duh...do you know what Miss Florida planned at the crowning ceremony?"

"I don't know. I also came in on the last minute."

"Why?"

"Miss D.C. got disqualified for not being a US citizen, so I got called in to replace her." 

"So you're a first runner-up just like the new Miss Florida?" 

"Practically yes. What was she planning to do by the way?" 

Gemma leaned forward. "She planned to protest nuclear arms deals during the crowning ceremony. Do you know how bad that would be for nuclear development and for my father's career?" 

"I can imagine." 

"I didn't want her little protest to put a damper on my crowning glory." 

"Wow. You're pretty convinced you'll win." 

"Sorry honey, I didn't mean to shatter your hopes, but me winning is already in place." 

Julie looked at her suspiciously. Not only did she have motive to get rid of Miss Florida, she probably also had something else going on behind the scenes to give her an advance in the competition. 

A while later Gemma left and not to make it too obvious Julie left the club a while later too. She had to pass by the pool on the way out and take a pathway lined with palm trees to the hotel. It was then that she noticed Gemma in a very intimate moment with one of the pageant organisers. She stood there for a moment and watched the scene straight out of a porn movie unfold itself in front of her. "The little bitch...she's sleeping her way to the crown. Skinner and Mulder has got to hear about this, " she said to herself before she hasted herself to the hotel.