Vibrations (25 page)

After a while Whitney’s stopped
and took off her pack. She needed to sit and try to make contact with the boy. Nick
sat quietly watching, staying closer this time in case she decided to try the
eyes closed walking thing. He was hoping that this time she would get a fix,
and they could bring the boy home alive and happy. The feeling he had in his
stomach was that it wouldn’t be that easy.

Whitney closed her eyes and
cleared her mind again. It was actually very peaceful out here. They were more
sheltered from the wind then they had been before, and she could hear all the
forest animals scurrying around. This was the kind of place she loved to find
when she was hiking. She would sit and meditate or simply relax and enjoy the
moment.

She finally turned her mind
toward the task at hand and opened up to the vibrations in the air. Nick was
trying to soak in the scenery and keep his mind off the possibilities. She
reached out past Nick and searched for other human thought patterns. She could
feel the collection of people hovering off to the west, and she focused her
energy away from that area.

Abruptly the feeling of terror
sunk into her chest. A boy was crying quietly somewhere to the east. He seemed
sleepy, but afraid. She tried to reach out to him with her mind to comfort him,
but it was too hard. He was far away and they had no previous connection. She
tried to search harder to find out if he was just lost, or a killer was
involved. The boy was quite terrified, but he seemed in a stupor. He wasn’t
sending off any rational thoughts.

She placed her hands out in
front of her and concentrated on finding any other vibrations from that direction.
An eerie feeling of cold and darkness came over her. Her heart was beating
rapidly and she could feel the sweat running down the back of her neck. Something
else was out there. She caught a feeling and knew it was the killer, but she
couldn’t lock onto it. He was either good at blocking her, or just too far
away. Maybe he was hurt or sleeping. She tried for a few more minutes and
finally pulled back.

She sat up and shook her head
trying to get the unwanted vibrations out of her system. She opened her eyes to
see Nick scanning the area, and took advantage of the quiet to try to clear her
energy. When she stood and put her backpack on Nick rushed over to her side.

“Did you find him?”

“I think so. We’re going the
right direction. He’s sleeping or something. I couldn’t get a lot of
information, but it’s a young boy and he’s afraid.”

“But he’s alive!”

“Yes, he is…for now.”

Nick’s expression fell and he
searched Whitney’s eyes as she continued to explain.

“I felt something else. I’m
quite sure it was killer. I couldn’t get much from that either, but it felt
bad.”

“Bad. Explain.”

“It’s hard to put into words. It
felt…scary…evil. Like what I felt at the house for a while. It feels the same.”

Nick could see the fear in her
eyes and he picked up the radio.

“Wait. What if he knows we’re
here? What if he’s listening on the radio and he’s found the frequency we’re
using. We can’t let him know we’re coming or he’ll take the boy and run…or
worse.”

Nick put the radio back in his
pack. “You’re right. But if we run into any kind of trouble, we’ve got to call
for help.” They moved out in the direction Whitney indicated, trying to walk as
quietly as possible. They wanted to be able to reach him before the sun set,
but they didn’t want to spook the killer. Whitney was praying that she would be
able to find him in time.

* * * *

The killer sat by the boy and
waited. He was drugged up enough to be conscious at times, but not enough to
give anything away. He knew she was coming. That bitch couldn’t take a hint. He
had warned her, and now he had no other choice.
He knew the cop
boyfriend was probably with her, but that was no problem. He was ready for
them. He had to get her out of the way. She just kept meddling where she didn’t
belong.

He hadn’t planned on the
elimination of any adults, but now that it was necessary, the thought was
beginning to electrify him. He couldn’t accomplish anything with her snooping
around. If she were really as good as the papers had said, she would have known
about him already. The problem was he was too distracted spending all his time
trying to avoid her. He had to get her out of the way, for good. She had no
idea how important it was for him to continue his work.

He had spent the last few weeks
getting ready for this. He had strategic lookout points all along the way. He
was monitoring the search effort, and knew they were coming for him. It
couldn’t be more perfect. The detective and Whitney had broken off from the
rest of the group. How stupid! Now he wouldn’t have to drag it out much longer.

It was time to check on his
quarry. He left the boy in the small cave. He loved caves. When he was younger
he spent a lot of time in this area exploring the mountains and caves. He was
always careful not to run into any mountain lions. It felt so good to be out
here again. He hadn’t had time to do this in years. The boy was sleeping now,
but even if he woke, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. His hands and feet
were duct taped. He didn’t worry about him screaming, he could hardly open his
eyes when he woke up.

Dustin had been the perfect
bait. And when he was finished with the psychic, he would finish the boy. He
needed him alive for now, but not alert enough to give her any clues. She must
be able to do some of that stuff, because she was coming in their direction. He
had studied up on psychic abilities in the last few weeks. Everyone was
different, but they said she was exceptional. Even the good ones couldn’t read
everyone. He was sure he could block her, because the first time they met she
hadn’t sensed anything. He didn’t even know who she was at the time, and he
hadn’t given himself away.

He hiked up to the nearby peak,
and then over the ridge until he could see quite far. He had chosen a peak that
provided a great view of the woods to the west. He had collected some excellent
high tech gear from an online store. He could see for miles, and even in the
dark. They wouldn’t even know he was there.

He’d lost sight of them, but
they were probably getting closer. It was time for the next phase. This time he
wouldn’t fail. This time, she would pay.

* * * *

Whitney was getting a little
tired. She had spent too much time absorbing the vibrations and it was adding
to the strain of hiking all day.

“Nick, I need to stop for a
bit.”

“No problem. This pack is
getting pretty heavy right now.”

When they stopped, Whitney took
a chance to relax and rest before she tried to make contact with Dustin. They
shared some water and rubbed each other’s shoulders. Nick’s neck and back were
as hard as rocks as usual.

“I can feel the lumps from
carrying that pack, but as usual it doesn’t feel like I’m doing any good. Does
that feel good?”

“It feels great. I’ll do your
back next.”

When he finished rubbing her
back, she found a spot to sit and search. She had been quiet for a few minutes
when she suddenly jumped up and ran toward her pack.

“Nick, he’s moving the boy. They’re
getting farther away. We have to hurry. If he goes too far we’ll never reach
him before nightfall.”

“Whitney, we don’t have a lot
of time now. We might just have to spend the night out here. I better let them
know back at the base camp.”

“Just don’t give away our
location. Tell them we just don’t want to bother walking back tonight. He won’t
know we’re on his tail.”

Nick called and let Agent
Hollerman know they wouldn’t be back. The agent seemed to sense the need to say
little. Since they hadn’t called with good news, he kept the search parties
working. Nick got off the radio and walked over to Whitney.

“One piece of good news, I
think.”

“What’s that?”

“Since this disappearance, it
sheds enough doubt on Ann Marie’s guilt that her lawyer finally got bail for
her. She will be coming up to join the search. She’s been going crazy knowing
that a little friend of hers is missing and she can’t help. She’s bringing some
of the other parents to help.”

“Good for her. I hope we can
catch this guy and her nightmare will be over. I still can’t figure out who
would want to frame her. I guess in sports there’s always someone that wants to
win more than you. Remember the case of the cheerleader’s mom killing that poor
girl.”

“Yup, I remember. Well, let’s
just concentrate on finding the boy and getting out of here. I’m hoping we
don’t actually have to face the killer alone. I want backup if we find him.”

Nick had a bad feeling about
this. Why hadn’t he killed the boy already? Where was he going? He was taking a
big risk staying in the woods with the boy with all the search parties out
looking. Maybe he wanted to lure Whitney away by taking the boy into the
wilderness. They could be walking right into a trap. This didn’t feel right. Shit,
where was Teddy when you need him? He felt like a puppet on a string leading Whitney
out so far without protection. It went against his every instinct.

They hiked for a few more
hours, but the sun was setting. Whitney could sense the boy was still on the
move. He wasn’t walking. She guessed he was being carried by the killer. She
could feel the pressure of the ropes around his body. He was barely conscious
and still getting farther away. How could the killer move the boy faster than
they could track him? He must be on a better trail. Nick and Whitney finally
had to stop for the night and setup camp. He had to convince Whitney it was the
only choice. They couldn’t get far in the dark, and they would be easy targets
with flashlights. It was going to be a long night.

Nick put the small tent on the
softest bed of pine needles he could find. The survival gear didn’t include
anything to sleep on. They had blankets to keep them warm, but they were like
tin foil and wouldn’t work as bedding underneath their bodies. He threw their
extra jackets down for something to lie on and zipped the tent back up.

Whitney’s mood hadn’t improved
much, so he tried to distract her with food. They munched on the dry granola
bars and drank some water. The air was just beginning to get chilly now that
the sun was down.

“Too bad we can’t have a fire. It
would make it so much easier. Then I could catch you a rabbit or something for
dinner.” He puffed up his chest to show that he was a manly hunter.

“Yuk,” she laughed. “I don’t
really like seeing my food alive before I eat it. The trail mix and granola
bars are fine.”

“We could pretend we’re on
Gilligan’s Island. We’ll just say the professor took the Howells and the rest
for a ride on the raft. So we’re all alone…” He leaned toward her to give her a
kiss.

“Yuk. Mary Ann and Gilligan
never got it on.”

“I didn’t say I was Gilligan. So
you’re Mary Ann, huh? Not the other one? I can’t remember her name.”

“No. She wears too many
dresses. If I’m gonna be lost on an Island, I’m not getting dressed up to do
it.”

“Well, Mary Ann. I’m a lost
sailor that washed up on the Island. You stayed behind to make sure my fever
goes away. Wanna help me get rid of this burning fever?” He put her hand on his
chest and pushed it down toward his belly.

Whitney pulled her hand away
and laughed. “No thank you. Who knows where you got it? I know all about you
sailors. A girl in every port. I think I’ll just watch you until you fall
asleep.”

“And then what?”

“And then I’m going to the
lagoon for a little skinny dipping. Alone!”

“Someone has to protect you
from the sharks out there. I promise, I haven’t touched another girl since I
set my eyes on you.”

Whitney shook her head no and
pushed her lower lip out in a pout. “I don’t like sailors. Go away.”

“Okay. I’m not really a sailor.
We’re actually on the latest Survivor show and we’re the last two left. I
promise to give you the whole million if you let me sleep with you.”

“Oh, such bribery. Well, a girl
has to have nice things. That’s if I can trust you to make sure I win.”

“See the beauty is, even if I
win, I give it to you.”

“Yeah, right. I’m not blonde
you know.”

“Hey, that’s not very nice. There
are some intelligent blondes out there. And coming from a woman. How crude.”

Whitney laughed and walked
toward the tent. “Just to prove you’ll really share, you can sleep outside
tonight and give me the whole tent.” She unzipped it and jumped inside.

“I don’t think so. The deal is
I get to sleep with you if I’m giving you all my money.”

“I’ll be sleeping, and you’ll
be sleeping too, so we will be sleeping together.”

“Not gonna happen.” Nick
reached in and blocked her from zipping the tent all the way up. Whitney burst
out laughing and backed away. Once they were both inside the tent Nick turned
to her and put on a serious face. “Time to pay up.”

Whitney squealed and then
covered her mouth.

“Oops. I’d better be more
quiet.”

“Sorry, my fault. Come here and
keep me warm,” he said, crooking his finger and motioning so she would get closer.

They snuggled in together and pulled
the blankets over top the best they could.

“You know we can’t really do
anything to energetic tonight,” Whitney warned. “I won’t have any strength left
tomorrow.

“I know,” Nick assured her. “Besides,
with those powers of yours, someone might see the tent flashing when you get
excited.”

“You’re so amusing,” she
snapped sarcastically. “So you were just teasing me?”

“Yup. I don’t dare make love to
you tonight. I won’t be in any position to protect you if I can’t even stand on
my legs.”