Vibrations (26 page)

They tried to make small talk
until they fell asleep to keep their minds off the little boy’s dilemma. Nick
tried to doze lightly so he could keep watch over Whitney. She was the one who
needed her rest. They had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but Nick was
afraid it wouldn’t be good.

* * * *

He was up before the sun rose. He
had to be careful and get started before that Bentley woman and her boyfriend. He
had found their camp during the night. It wasn’t hard to do with his night vision
goggles and all the noise they were making. They had no idea they were up
against his level of intelligence.

He placed himself between the
lovebirds’ camp and the boy’s hiding place. Now he would see if all the
studying and gadgets would pay off. If that lady could pick up on his
vibrations, or thoughts, all he had to do was clear his mind. He was already
convinced he could block her from knowing his thoughts. He just knew he was one
of the ones that could do that. It was probably because of his superior
intelligence and determination.

He sat down on his seat warmer
and took out the light and sound machine. He had attempted to learn how to
meditate and clear his mind in the last few weeks, but he was new at it so he
wanted extra insurance. He found the light machine on the Internet. He placed
the headphones over his ears and the dark glasses on his face. The machine used
sounds and light to help you reach the point where the brain produced the
correct alpha waves. That was what meditation was all about. He wanted to see
if he could make her think he wasn’t in the area any more. Even if it didn’t
work, she would never be able to read his mind. Today was the day, and it was
hard to bridle his excitement and fall into the meditative state. He turned on
the music and started to enjoy the light show.

* * * *

Whitney woke when the sun was
just rising to find Nick watching her. It was obvious he hadn’t slept much from
the dark circles under his eyes. They had a quick bite to eat and Whitney threw
on an extra jacket. It would warm up later, but for now she needed to be
comfortable so she could concentrate. Nick quietly broke up camp as she sat in
the now familiar position she used to relax.

After a few minutes she stood
up and glanced at Nick. The expression on her face looked more hopeful than the
night before.

“What, is he still out there?”

“Yes, he’s still alive but not
very aware. But the thing is…I didn’t sense anyone else. It seems like he left
the boy alone. Maybe he got afraid and ran.”

That didn’t make sense
.
Nick
couldn’t believe it could be that easy. He had spent the night worrying about
walking into a trap. He didn’t want to spoil the hopeful look on Whitney’s
face, but the hairs on the back of his neck told him they were heading for
trouble.

They were still going east, but
they were heading away from the rim. The forest grew a bit thicker and their
pace slowed. Whitney was excited that they might find this one alive, and get
out of here without another night on the ground. She couldn’t understand why
the killer had left the boy. Maybe she hadn’t really sensed another presence. But
why would the boy be so far away? Every time she contacted him she felt his
stupor, like he might be drugged, but maybe he was just dehydrated or hurt.

They climbed through the pines
and the brush for a couple hours before Whitney decided it was time to check
again. She grew quite excited when she sensed they were close, and still didn’t
pick up anyone else in the area. They walked farther north and crossed an open field
at the base of a small, rocky mountain.

“He’s up there,” she said
pointing halfway up the rocky slope.

Nick pulled his gun and looked
for tracks but couldn’t see any. If the boy was up there, he might have come
from another direction. Whitney and Nick were leaving an obvious trail in the
sandy soil, so it made sense they would see the boys tracks at some point.

 “Whitney, wait. Let’s stop and
figure this out. We need a better plan than charging up the mountain. What if
there’s another person with the boy? He can probably see us right now. I need
to think.” He continued scanning with the binoculars but realized what he
needed was a rifle with a scope.

“If someone is watching, we’re
gonna be sitting ducks,” Nick admitted, feeling foolish for being so
unprepared.

“We have to get up there
somehow. We can’t just leave him there. I really don’t sense anyone else, but
that doesn’t mean I’m right about it. Any ideas?”

“I know.” Nick said calmly. “We
will find him. I think first we need to call in some help.”

“I don’t want to scare anyone
if they are up there. Right now the boy is still alive,” Whitney said, her
optimism overshadowing the danger of the situation.

“We need to stay alive so we
can get the boy back. I can think of a couple things. One is leaving you here
in hiding, while I go up and check. But I don’t really want to leave you
alone.”

“And you may have some problems
trying to pinpoint the boy’s location.”

“True. The other choice is to
drop the packs and go up together. You can keep a few feet behind me, and keep
down low. That way you can help find the boy, and I can scope it out first.”

“Let’s go,” she said stepping
out into the open.

“Just remember, keep back a
bit, and try to be as quiet as possible.”

Nick moved forward, gun in hand
and all senses on alert. He tried to pick a trail up the mountain that would
allow them to have some cover. There were very few rocks big enough to hide
behind, so they were almost crawling before long. Whitney pointed in the
direction she thought they should go, and Nick inched his way up. They could
see a small opening that looked like an entrance to a cave.

“I think he’s in there. Now
what?” Whitney whispered.

“Let me go in and check. You
wait here, by the entrance. Scream loud if you see anyone. Stay low and quiet
for now.”

“You be careful. What do you
plan to do if someone’s in there?” The image of someone waiting inside, ready
to take Nick out with a gun or knife, cut through her optimism.

“Depends if they’re armed or
not. Hopefully we have the element of surprise on our side. No one would expect
us to be able to track the boy all this way. If we find him, we’ll radio for
help right away. If you think I’m in trouble, call for help and get back down
the mountain.”

Whitney tried to sit perfectly
still as she opened her mind to her surroundings. She could feel Nick’s
tension, and she could feel the boy starting to wake up. He was dehydrated or
sick, and he needed their help. He was back in a tunnel somewhere.

Nick was out of sight so she
thought to him, “Hurry Nick, he needs us. He’s in there.”

“I hear you. Shhhhhh. Don’t
talk to me right now.”

Whitney was concentrating so
hard on the boy and Nick that it took her a minute to realize someone else was
moving down below. She became aware of a red-hot anger coming from behind and
she turned, but it was too late. She was hit with something. It felt like a hot
needle in her back. “Nick!” She called out with her mind and then her limbs
went numb and she fell to the ground. Just before she blacked out she could
hear him laughing.

Nick was using the
small flashlight to maneuver through the small tunnels. He was hoping it
wouldn’t give him away. The passageway finally widened into a large cavern and
he saw the boy on the floor. There was no one else in sight as he strode over
and dropped to his knees. He was reaching to find the boy’s pulse when he heard
her.

“NICK!”

“Whitney. What’s wrong? Whitney?”
Nick felt his heart speed as the adrenaline hit.

Turning, he ran as fast as he
could back through the low tunnels. He stopped when he could see the light at
the entrance.

“Whitney? Are you okay?”

She didn’t answer. Nick
felt sick. He’d left her alone and in the open. When he walked out he’d be just
as vulnerable. He crouched and tried to peek out the entrance. Whitney was sprawled
out a few feet down the side. It looked like she’d been shot or maybe just knocked
out. There was no blood that he could see, and he could see her chest moving,
so she was still alive.

“Whitney!” She didn’t move. He
inched farther out the opening and tried to scan the area. He couldn’t see
anyone. Finally unable to find a better option, he burst outside and ran for
Whitney and the nearest cover. When nothing happened, he slid closer to her
body to check for bullet wounds or other injuries, but he couldn’t find any. He
turned her over gently to check her back and found a dart next to her hip. Pulling
it out he dragged her back toward the cave.

He was almost to the cover of
the cave when he heard a shot. The bullet tore through his arm and spun him
around. The next shot hit the radio on his hip causing the sharp plastic to
splinter. Whitney lay at the entrance to cave, totally exposed, but the sniper
didn’t seem to want her dead. Nick lay a few feet away, his head behind the
largest rock he could find.

Inching out to look around, he
spotted a man the open with a rifle up to his shoulder. Nick moved to take a
shot but was thrown off when another bullet hit him in his exposed leg. He rolled
farther away from Whitney and found cover behind larger boulder.

Nick waited for a few
minutes and finally saw the shooter moving. He was coming up the mountain, and
he had Nick in his sights. Nick took aim and emptied his clip, rolling back for
cover as he loaded more ammo. He’d been hit in his right arm so he was shooting
with the left. The man had been quick to duck and roll, but Nick hoped some of
the shots had found their target. Two minutes passed and another bullet bit
into the rock above him, sending fragments into is cheek.

He turned and dove toward the
next large boulder trying to take another shot at the same time, but it went
way off the mark. His arm was throbbing now and he was losing blood from his
arm and his leg wounds. If he died now, Whitney wouldn’t have a chance. Making
the difficult decision to save himself first, he opened fire and rolled farther
down, away from Whitney.

Nick continued to move
away from the shooter, zigzagging between points of cover. He stumbled and fell
a few times, the blood loss and pain making his vision blur. Reaching the edge
of the trees he dropped and turned, but the shooter was out of sight. Crawling
into the open again, he prayed he could get a good shot before something
happened to Whitney. When he came around to the cave side his heart dropped.
They were both gone. Dropping to his knees he began retching. The killer had
Whitney, and the boy, and Nick was hurt and alone. He didn’t even have his
radio. The packs were gone too. Nick had to think of something, but his mind
wouldn’t work. His body started shaking and he knew he was going into shock.

* * * *

It was too easy. They had
walked right up the mountain and into his range and made it too easy. The
stupid cop left the girl right outside. After pulling her into the cave, the killer
tossed her beside the boy. He’d originally planned to kill her quickly, but he
wanted to find out how effective his new mind techniques were on the psychic
lady. All that studying had paid off. Now no one could track him. Too bad he
wasn’t able to finish it with the cop as he had planned. The guy had moved
faster than he’d expected. But he had seen the blood pouring down his side so
he probably wouldn’t get too far.

He made sure to destroy
the radio he found in the backpacks before checking his own. He’d been
listening to the searchers the whole time, and couldn’t believe how useless
they were. The cop hadn’t even told them where he was. “Perfect,” he thought.
This day was going better than he’d planned.

Within minutes he had rolled
the boy and Whitney onto a tarp he had setup for a carrier. It didn’t take him
long to pull them out the back entrance to the cave, and to the waiting ATV
outside. Once he was sure all the evidence of his operation was removed, he
placed the limp bodies on the little trailer and left the mountain.

* * * *

Whitney woke up in a chair with
her hands tied behind her and her feet tied to the chair legs. She tried to
lift her head, but stabbing pains shot through her neck. How long had she been
sitting like this? It felt like she was in a rustic cabin from the look of the
floor and the smells around her.

She also knew “he”
was
here. He was watching her. She couldn’t read his thoughts, but she felt the
anger that she had come to recognize. So that’s what had made it so difficult,
he was able to block her unless that anger slipped through.

She finally managed to lift her
head and look around but her hair was in her eyes, making it even more
difficult to focus. A man came and crouched down in front of her, pushing the
hair back from her face. He had on a full camouflage outfit, including a
camouflage mask that only revealed his eyes and mouth. He didn’t say a word as
he walked over to the couch and sat down. He just watched her.

Whitney looked around the cabin
searching for an escape route. The figure laughed as if he was watching
something funny on television. She swung her head back around to face him.

“Who are you? What do you want
with me?” Her voice was gravelly but she tried not to sound weak.

“I thought you were
supposed to know that already.” His voice was low and harsh. It was obvious he
was trying to disguise it. The combination of the mask and fake voice meant he
was afraid of being recognized. Maybe she knew him. From what she knew of him
she wouldn’t be getting out of this alive, so why the precautions? Why didn’t
he just kill her and get her out of the way?

Pulling herself up straighter
in the chair she tried to look like less of an easy victim. “Where’s the boy?”