Vibrations (11 page)

“He crawled out of the desert
onto the road and a passing car found him.”

“Can I go see him yet?” Whitney
was anxious to see what would happen. She knew that he had seen the abductor
and could identify him. The agent was aware of that too, and had armed guards
posted at his doors.

“You can have five minutes
right now, and then they want him left alone for a while. That’s why I called
you down now. Just in case he doesn’t pull through. We’ll wait for you out
here.”

Whitney walked into the private
room and saw all the tubes and wires hooked to the boy. He looked so small. She
had seen his pictures, and he was a good size twelve year old. But here, in the
middle of the machines, he looked like a baby.

“Kevin? Kevin, my name is
Whitney and I’m here to help you.” She sat by the bed and put her hand on his.

“You don’t need to worry about
anything. We have guards at the door and you’re safe now. Your parents are
here. You did good. Just work on getting better, okay.”

She sat quietly to see what
would happen. She started to see something in her mind, and she closed her
eyes. It was dark. She was floating, or drowning. She could feel the boy’s
fear.

“It’s okay Kevin. You’re safe
now. You’re in the hospital.”

She couldn’t catch any real
thoughts, but she could feel him. He was struggling to come out of it, but he
was far away. He was still trying to get to safety, and he was scared. Someone
was after him. He was fighting for his life.

“Kevin, who did this to you?” She
felt guilty for asking since it might scare him more, but she had to try.

She heard a thought. “Run! Gotta
run…I can beat him. Stupid wimp.” She saw an image. A small man lying on the
ground with a ski mask on. Kevin had knocked him down. His head had hit a rock.
“My legs…can’t stand…move!” She could see images at ground level as he crawled
away from the masked man. His heart monitor was beating faster now.

“Kevin, you made it. You did
it. You’re safe now. Just rest. You did it.”

The doctor rushed in with a nurse
as she was trying to calm him.

“His heart rate is up. What’s
going on?” The doctor demanded.

“I think he is remembering.”

“Did he open his eyes or move?”

“Not yet. But I think he can
hear us a little.”

“Good. Good. That’s a good
sign. Now let’s leave him alone. The parents will be sitting with him as long
as he remains stable.”

Whitney followed him out of the
room. She told the two detectives and agent Hollerman what she had seen and
heard. Nick offered to drive her back to his place again. Whitney protested but
the agent agreed it was a good idea.

“I’m fine. I just need to
sleep.”

“Well, you can rest at his
house and he’ll make sure you are safe. I don’t like the idea that the killer now
knows you’re working on this case. Nick, I want you with her at all times, and
if not, make sure someone else is. He can’t get to this boy right now, but he
may go looking for Whitney. For all he knows she read his mind and can identify
him.”

“I won’t let her out of my
sight.” Nick saluted the Agent. Whitney knew he was trying to lighten the
situation, but she wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

“Fine, but call me if he regains
consciousness.”

They were both quiet on the
ride to Nick’s place. This was so stupid. Couldn’t the agent guess she was
uncomfortable spending so much time at Nick’s house? But who else knew what she
needed. She couldn’t believe in such a short time she had become dependent on
Nick. Served her right for keeping herself so distant from everyone. She had no
one else to call. She tried to tune out his mental gymnastics. He was trying so
hard not to think about anything he didn’t want her to know, he was thinking
about silly things.

His thoughts were just rambling
as he tried to keep his mind off of Whitney. “When did it rain last? I wonder
how many inches we have had all year. Why does the desert get so stinking hot? It’s
almost June and I’m ready for winter. Weather, think about the weather.”

Whitney’s own thoughts were
becoming clearer. How could she have imagined a relationship with him, or
anyone for that matter? No one wanted to have their mind read by someone close
to them. It was unnatural. She was unnatural. For a short time she had
forgotten about being such a freak of nature, but it was clear once again. She
would concentrate on the case, and then get herself out of Nick’s life and
mind.

Nick puttered in the garage
while Whitney napped. He knew she hadn’t slept much and worried what would
happen if they called her to work in that condition. He thought of calling the
station and getting someone to watch her while he went out in the field, but he
couldn’t do it. What if she had another episode? What if her heart stopped
again? No doubt Hollerman would say no hospital but Nick wanted be the one to
make that decision next time.  

Whitney spent the next day
following Nick around on interviews with possible witnesses. Some of them had
called with false information just to get a chance to see the psychic. Late in
the afternoon Teddy called to let them know that Kevin was stable, but still
unconscious. They seemed to think he would pull out of it but they wouldn’t
allow her to visit yet. By the time they went home for dinner her feet were
aching and she was starving.

Just as she was finishing her
third slice of pizza her phone rang. It was agent Hollerman. “Hello,” she said
trying to sound cheerful and rested.

“Hi Whitney. How are you?”

“Fine. What is this about? Just
checking up on me?”

“No. I’m worried about sending
you into so many situations in a row. I want you rested in case we have to face
another crime scene. Right now we’re doing legwork and don’t need you here. I
want you to take tomorrow off, as long as nothing new comes up. Can you do
that?

“I don’t need a day off. I need
to keep looking for something that will give us a lead. You’re being
ridiculous. I rested most of the day yesterday anyway.”

“But you were up all night.
Listen, I know I’ve been pushing you, and as soon as I need you I won’t
hesitate to do it again. We don’t know the long term effects of all of this,
and I’m taking precautions. You will take the day off tomorrow, understand?”

Whitney could hear that he’d
made up his mind about it. “Call me if you find anything.”

“I will. Now I need Nick to
stay with you as protection or maybe we can find someone else. Work it out with
him. I don’t like the way the media concentrating on you right now. Keep away
from reporters and try to keep your mind off work for one day.”

“Yeah, right. I’ll try my
best.”

Whitney said good-bye and hung
up. She had never heard of taking time off in the middle of an operation like
this. Maybe she was becoming a problem for the team. They were probably afraid
she’d lose it on the next call. Although a day of rest sounded great, she was
doubtful she could keep her mind off the case.

A minute later Nick’s phone
rang and he took it outside. She knew Hollerman wouldn’t trust her to work it
out, and he was probably right. She couldn’t imagine Nick taking another day
off to watch her sit in his house. It was time to rent her own car and tell
them all to shove their over protective demands up their asses.

When Nick came back in he
looked miserable, but he had agreed to the day off. Whitney became furious.

“You cannot keep sitting around
here waiting for something to happen when you should be out there.” She stalked
to the guest room and began throwing the few things she had in her bag.

“Calm down,” Nick said
following behind her but clueless as to what to do next. “I want to do it,” he
said thinking he half meant it.

She rolled her eyes and
laughed. “You can’t lie to me, remember?”

Seeing no other choice but
total honesty he backed her to the dresser and placed his hands on either side
of her, blocking her escape. “Okay, I’m not thrilled about another day away
from the job, but I do want to do this myself.” He waited for her to look up
and then continued. “I don’t trust anyone else to look after you, okay?” His
eyes gentled and the side of his mouth crooked up in a grin. “You’re too
stubborn to pass off on some poor rookie.”

She looked up at Nick and took
a deep breath. He was thinking loud and clear that he wanted to be the only one
protecting her. That he needed to make sure she was safe even if it meant
another day off from work. She couldn’t even think with him that close so she
just gave up the fight for the moment.

“Fine. I guess you’re stuck
with me. I hope you’ll be able to relax enough with me around.” She knew he
didn’t expect to feel relaxed. He thought the idea of a day off was ridiculous,
but had agreed for her sake. “We should do something besides sit around here so
we can get our mind off of the case…and…other things.”

Nick laughed. “Good idea! Where
do you want to go?”

“Well, if it wouldn’t be too
much trouble, I would love to take a drive to Sedona.”

“That sounds fun. It’s only a
couple hours away. What’s in Sedona that you like?” Nick knew the point would
be to let Whitney recharge, so a little diversion would be perfect.

“Sedona is where I live. I
would love to grab some new clothes and check on my babies.”

Nick realized again that he
didn’t know Whitney very well. He didn’t even know where she lived not to
mention her family situation.

“Babies? When you said you
avoided relationships, I guess I thought that would rule out babies.”

His look of panic made her
smile. “Well, I call them my babies. They’re my parrots. But they can be as
much work as real babies.”

Nick shook his head at her. “You
enjoyed that reaction didn’t you? Just remember, payback can be a bitch.”

“Sorry,” she said still
smiling. “Do you know much about birds? I have one Blue and Gold Macaw and one
Umbrella Cockatoo. Right now I have a young neighbor that stops at my house and
takes care of them while I’m gone. She’s a college kid out for the summer.”

“I guess you can’t just leave
food in the cage when you don’t know how long you’ll be gone.”

“Not only that, the bigger
birds would get very upset if they were left alone for so long, especially the
Cockatoo. He can’t be left in a cage all day or he’ll just start screaming and
pulling out his feathers. Thankfully my neighbor’s girl Tina loves birds and
used to work in a bird store. When she’s in school I have to board them with
another lady.”

“Sounds like an adventure that
will take my mind off of work…but maybe not other things.” Nick smiled
mischievously at Whitney.

Whitney looked away and forced
a smile. She didn’t want to encourage him, but she wouldn’t be rude. It was her
fault for letting him think there was a chance at anything. He still hadn’t
figured out for himself that he couldn’t just think about the weather every
time he wanted some privacy. If she had to, she’d get into his mind on purpose
to drive him away. For now, she just wanted to go home for the day.

Nick saw the sadness in her
eyes. Something had changed again. There was no way he could keep track of
everything he’d been thinking, but something had upset her. He promised himself
he’d have more self control and wait for more signs.

Whitney got herself ready for
the next day and went to bed early. There was nothing for her to do in his
house and she didn’t want to be exposed to his thoughts. Years ago she had
realized that some people were just meant to be alone, and that went double for
freaks of nature. She thought she’d come to terms with it, but just a moment of
hope had made her feel things that were best kept locked away. The awareness of
what she was missing was fresh and painful and promised to keep her awake for
most of the night.

Whitney was already up
by the time Nick woke up. He knew she was in the kitchen because the smells of
coffee and bacon drifted into his room. He looked over at the clock. It was
only 6:45. He threw on his sweats and followed his nose into the kitchen.

“Whitney. Did you sleep last
night? What are you doing up so early?” He took a deep breath to inhale the
scent of bacon. “Smells yummy.”

“Good morning Nick,” she
answered sweetly. “I slept fine. I just didn’t want to waste my day off. It’s a
perfect day.”

“I know you couldn’t have found
all this good stuff in my fridge.”

“I didn’t. I borrowed your car
to run to the store. Hope that’s not a problem. I got some water bottles and
snacks for the trip today too.”

“No problem.” He rubbed his
hands through his hair and reached for a cup. “Coffee, java, the elixir of life.”
He laughed at himself as he poured it into the giant mug. “What, no donuts?”

“Very funny. No. Eggs, bacon,
toast and coffee. Everything a growing boy needs to start a beautiful day off.
A little cholesterol and caffeine and we’ll be ready to go.

Whitney had tossed and turned
all night until she came to her decision. She would put on a happy face and
stop moping around. This was her life and she’d act like a grown woman and
accept it. There was no need to punish Nick for her own problems. She also knew
Nick didn’t take much time off, so she’d make it as relaxing as possible.

Nick watched her putting their
food on the plates. She moved so gracefully she looked like she was floating.
Her beautiful black hair looked like it would reach to her waist, but she had
it pulled back. Little ringlets fell around her face. Her hair fell in gentle
curls down her back. Her deep brown eyes were flashing with the anticipation of
the day.

Nick couldn’t believe how exciting
it was to just watch her eat. No one had ever made it look like such a sensuous
event. She lifted a bite slowly to her mouth and ever so slowly slid it off the
fork.