Vibrations (16 page)

“Alright, I’ll maim him real
bad and then arrest him.” He laughed.

Whitney whispered hoarsely, “I
heard that.” They both went over to the bed. Her eyes were small slits, but at
least they were open.

“You just rest and I’ll be
right here.” He patted her hand nervously.

“Wait, I have to tell you what
happened. I thought it was you. I couldn’t tell…he was blocking me…but then I
felt him. As he hit me, I felt his anger.” She swallowed and licked at her dry
lips. “He was there for
me
Nick. It’s not your fault. He’s afraid of me.
That’s all I could get before I blacked out.”

“Shhhhh. Don’t talk anymore
now. We have guards posted on your doors. He won’t come here. Just rest.”

Whitney’s eyes closed and her
head fell back on the pillow. When her breathing slowed and she looked like she
was sleeping, Nick walked Teddy to the door.

“We’ll find him. Just take care
of her.” Teddy reached around Nick’s shoulder to give him a squeeze.

Nick knew his partner would do
everything possible to make it happen. He sat by Whitney’s bed through the
night, dozing on and off. Who would want to hurt Whitney? Could it be someone
still involved with this case? Or was it someone from her past? Teddy had
mentioned that a reporter named Steven Hicks had been making a pest of himself
around the station. He seemed overly interested in Whitney’s importance in the
investigation. A background check had turned up little information. He had covered
a case in Oregon a year ago that had used Whitney’s expertise. She hadn’t given
him the exclusive he had been begging for, and he didn’t like her very much.
That wasn’t enough to make him want to hurt her. Maybe it was someone that had
gone to prison as a result of her talents. Agent Hollerman could check that out
for him.

Every time she moved he watched
her for signs of improvement, or something worse. They took her vitals all
night long and Nick asked each time how she was doing. All they could tell him
was that her vitals were stable. Early in the morning she finally opened her
eyes and asked for something to drink.

Nick’s tried to keep the
conversation light, but the worry in his voice gave him away. “’Bout time you
woke up sleepy head.”

“Just getting my beauty rest,”
Whitney shot back as she tried to sit up. She winced a little as she moved, but
it was much better than she’d expected. Nick raised the bed so she could see
better.

“You’re looking a little
better, but you probably don’t want to look in the mirror yet.”

“Thanks. So much for the beauty
sleep. You don’t look so great yourself you know. Did you decide to grow a
beard while I was sleeping?”

Nick reached up and rubbed his
chin. “I’ve been told I look sexy with a little stubble. I don’t think I’ll
keep it though. Don’t think you’d enjoy kissing a porcupine every day.” He
leaned over to gently kiss her lips. He could see how weak she was and
worriedly pulled away. They were interrupted after a few minutes when an
orderly came to take her vitals.

When the doctor came in Nick
and Whitney were sitting by the window. The swelling had stopped and her vital
signs were all good. She would be out of the hospital the next day if all went
well.

Nick checked with the guard on
the way out to be sure they knew they’d better not mess this one up. The guard
knew Nick and promised he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He left to meet
Teddy feeling that Whitney was safe for the moment.

Teddy supplied him with the
names and addresses of the reporters and other citizens that had made inquiries
about Whitney in the past few days. With the media splashing her face all over,
many people had expressed interest in her skills.

They started by tracking down
Steven Hicks. He was a self professed psychic, and a reporter for a sleazy
tabloid. He had tried desperately to meet with Whitney. She had refused to
speak to him after he called the third or fourth time. He kept asking her to go
out with him so they could compare abilities.

He was easy to find at the
little bookstore he worked for in Mesa. They waited outside until he took a
cigarette break, and then Nick snuck up behind him and pulled his gun.

“Put up your hands. Now! Phoenix
Police Department. Hands behind your head!” He turned the man around so he
could see the weapon and badge.

 “What’s the problem?” He tried
to back away from Nick but Teddy was standing right behind him. Teddy turned
his back to them so that his big body shielded them from anyone that was
looking. Nick grabbed the man’s shirt in his fist and shoved him up against a
van.

“Where were you last night
between six and eight?”

“I heard what happened last
night. I was here at work, taking inventory, so you can check it out if you
want. You think I
did this to your girlfriend? I know who you are. I’ve
seen you with her.”

Nicks eyes narrowed and he
lifted on the shirt until he was pulling the man off the ground. “You’d better
be telling me the truth. I don’t give a damn what your interest is with
Whitney, but you’d better keep your distance. If I find that you were anywhere
near my place, I’ll be the one coming after you. If I find you near her I’ll
make sure you need help just to get to the phone to dial 911. Understand?”

Steven nodded his head in
agreement and didn’t say a word. He could see the crazed look in Nick’s eyes
and had no trouble believing he would do it.

Nick and Teddy drove away after
checking out his story.

Nick laughed, “That was fun.
Whew. Got out some of my frustrations. I don’t think he was the one, but I sure
scared the shit out of him.’

“Did you have to pull that
macho cop act?” Teddy asked giving Nick a quizzical look. “What got into you?”

“When I called Whitney about
him she used the words creeped out. Since she is the psychic I take that to
mean he isn’t someone I want following her around.” He laughed. “I don’t think
he’ll be bothering her again.”

“He’s a pain in the ass anyway.
Spent more time dogging me than he did sleeping. Glad to help you out on that
one. Gonna have to play it more by the book with the rest of the suspects. We
don’t really have much to go on.”

They spent the rest of the day
following leads and checking on alibis. He called Whitney almost every hour to
make sure she was okay. That evening he went back to stay with her. He brought
her suitcase from the house so she could take a shower.

Whitney was grateful that he
had brought her things. The hospital provided some of that stuff, but she
preferred her own toothbrush and toiletries. Nick handed her the shampoo as she
showered. He didn’t want to take a chance she would get dizzy and fall.

“Can you hand me my conditioner
now? I think I got all the blood out of my hair, but it’s a tangled mess. I’m
having a hard time not getting the stitches wet, but I just had to shower. Hope
the nurses don’t walk in right now.”

Nick read the bottle as he
handed it to her. “Vanilla. That’s why you smell like that, it’s your
conditioner.”

“Can’t keep any secrets from
you.”

By the time she was finished
with her shower she was exhausted. If someone wanted her out of the way for a
while, they had been pretty effective. The next day she was released in Nick’s
care. She was not to be left alone for a few more days, but that wouldn’t be a
problem. Nick wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

The rest of the week went by
without further incident. Whitney was starting to wonder if Ann Marie was
guilty. No other abductions had happened and it was past the usual time period.
She was enjoying the time with Nick, but she knew she would have to get back to
her own place soon. Nick didn’t want her going anywhere, especially after the
attempt on her life. Nothing more had happened, and Whitney was getting
restless. She wasn’t ready to give up her life and move in with Nick, and he
wouldn’t be happy moving up to the sleepy town of Sedona. The job meant a lot
to Nick. She couldn’t take that away from him. They would have to try a long
distance relationship for a while until they could figure it out.

The FBI had closed up the
command center and Agent Hollerman had moved on to a new case. They were
prepared to come back should someone else disappear, but it hadn’t happened.
Ann Marie was trying to convince her attorney that it could help her case to
talk with Whitney, and Whitney was hoping to get that chance before she left.
It gave her a reason to stay with Nick and put off making any major decisions.

Today, Whitney had offered her
services to the police in the small town of Casa Grande, about fifty miles
south of Phoenix. A small boy had been missing, and she went to help. They
found the boy before she even arrived in town. He had been hiding in a
neighbor’s garage and couldn’t get himself out.

Whitney took the scenic drive
home. She hadn’t heard from Nick in a while. He had convinced her to keep her cell
phone handy so he could keep in constant contact. He wasn’t convinced she was
safe, but she insisted on the trip to Casa Grande. She was smart enough to
check for a tail, and all seemed clear.

She kept trying to call Nick
when it got late and she was almost back to the house. He should have been home
by now, but he didn’t answer his cell or the house phone. He was probably stuck
somewhere on a crime scene and couldn’t take the time to call. She hoped it
wasn’t anything dangerous. She had met some of the girlfriends and wives of the
other detectives and they had warned her about the stress of waiting each day
to see if they would get home safe. It was something you didn’t exactly get
used to; you just tried not to think about it all the time. That’s why the cell
phone was handy.

Nick wasn’t home by nine and
Whitney was getting very worried. She called Teddy and he came over. They had
been together until dinnertime, and then Teddy had headed home. Nick had
received a call from one of the kids on the SVWC, and he was going over to make
sure everything was okay. Teddy didn’t know who had called, so he didn’t know
where to start looking.

“Teddy, has Nick ever gone off
on a lead and not kept in touch like this?” Whitney’s voice begged for a
reassuring answer.

“Not for this long,” he said
apologetically. “Don’t get too worried yet,” he said patting her arm. “Once he
gets his nose onto something, he can’t let go. He could have lost track of time
or gone out of cell phone range. I’ve alerted the dispatcher and everyone is
keeping an eye out for him. I’ll stay here with you until something turns up.”

“That’s another thing that
makes me worry. Since we called of the squad cars from watching the house, Nick
has been careful to get home before me to make sure I’m not alone. I can’t see
him not showing up, or sending someone to check on me. He hasn’t even called me.
I think something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

“You mean like how you feel
other things.”

“Not exactly like that. Just
like you know in your gut when something’s not right. I wish I could tune into
Nick right now, but it’s not happening. I have no idea where he is.”

The phone rang and Whitney
jumped out of her chair.

“Nick?”

“No…not Nick,” said a voice Whitney
didn’t recognize. “Nick’s indisposed right now. If you want to keep your pretty
head, you’d better get away from the valley right now. Or you’ll be next.” The
phone went dead.

Teddy saw Whitney go pale and drop
the phone. “Whitney, tell me what they said. It was about Nick, wasn’t it?”

She nodded and sat down. “He’s
hurt or dead. The man on the phone said he was ‘indisposed’. He said I’d be
next if I didn’t leave the valley. I didn’t recognize the voice.” She was
crying now and she couldn’t stop. “It’s my fault. It has something to do with
me.”

Teddy tried to reassure her as
he contacted the captain. They would get every man on the hunt for Nick. Ann
Marie was in jail, and there had been no other abductions. The case had been
basically closed, so it didn’t look like it was linked to that. But what else
was Whitney involved in that would make Nick a target too?

Whitney was curled up in the
chair with a blanket about an hour later when she felt Nick in her head. He was
alive. Maybe he was trying to contact her. She went still and tried to open her
mind. She sensed him, hurt and confused, and cold. He was bleeding too much.
She felt him losing consciousness again.

“Hold on Nick.”
She
tried to reach out to him. “I hear you. Hold on. Where are you?”

Nick was cold. He had been
shaking but now he just felt numb. “How can I be so cold in the desert? Shit! I’m
bleeding. Whitney!”

He remembered getting out of
his car at the house and then something had hit him in the chest. Where was he?
He must have been unconscious, and now he had no idea where he was. It was dark
and he was outside. He lifted his head trying not to pass out again. He could
see the city lights not far away. He placed his hand over the wound in his
chest and felt the warm sticky blood. He got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
The injuries were bad. He’d seen enough to know it didn’t look good for him
this time. He tried to call to Whitney. He thought he heard her asking where he
was. He could also be hallucinating, but he knew she would be searching for
him.

“Outside. Sand and desert. City
lights not far. Looks like a field. Maybe by the house. I was home and then…” Nick
couldn’t keep it up. He was getting dizzy and feeling very thirsty.

“Hold on Nick. We’re coming.” Whitney
leapt from the chair and yelled for Teddy to follow. They ran outside as
Whitney told her what she had sensed. They started yelling his name and Teddy
called for cars to search the area. She listened but didn’t hear anything.

Teddy was walking south on
Nick’s property when he saw the mustang parked behind an old barn. He ran to
check it but Nick wasn’t there. Whitney caught up with him and started yelling
for Nick again. What if he had lost consciousness? He wouldn’t hear them and he
couldn’t answer.