Vibrations (32 page)

Whitney and Dustin hiked
swiftly down the side of the mountain. It was tough going through the brush. They
made sure not to follow a trail so Derrick wouldn’t be able to follow on his
ATV so easily. Whitney sensed that trying to get the boy to talk would be
fruitless, so she let him walk in silence. She was glad he was able to walk and
keep up. He probably hadn’t eaten in days and would soon be wearing out on her
too.

At the bottom of the mountain
Whitney decided to risk it and head back toward the search parties. Derrick
would probably pursue the same route, but she had to find help. She kept
checking on Nick and looking for Derrick with her mind. She couldn’t find him,
and that worried her. Maybe he’s just meditating to try and fool me. If he is,
then he won’t be able to follow us.

“Maybe he got so mad he shot
himself,” she thought hopefully. No. They would have heard it. She would kill
him herself if she could. She had never felt quite like this. At first she had
felt sorry for him, but knowing all he’d done, leaving Nick behind in his path,
and having had his thoughts in her mind, she felt sure she could pull the
trigger if given the chance. She’d never handled a gun, but she’d pull the
trigger and try her best.

They were heading toward
another steep slope that wound back up to the rim. It looked like a long hike. She
needed to get somewhere and make a signal for any planes and helicopters to
see. They terrain was starting to climb again when she became aware that
Derrick was moving. He was trying to keep his mind clear, but his anger was
flashing around him like a beacon. He’d loaded up the ATV with weapons and was
heading down toward Nick.

Whitney tried not to panic as
she encouraged Dustin to try and go faster. They climbed for a while until they
found a boulder to hide behind. Whitney told him to sit by her side while she
took a little break. She sat quietly and linked to Nick.

“How ya doing big boy?”

“I itch all over. I think I
fell asleep for a while. How long has it been?”

“A couple of hours now.”

“I feel a little better. I was
thinking of trying to move farther away from the cabin.”

“No. Just stay there. He’s on
the move now. He’s coming your way.”

“Thanks for the heads up. I
won’t move a muscle. Are you out of the way?”

“We’re heading up the rim. It’s
a long hike from here. We walked around the bottom of the mountain you’re on
and headed southwest. Now going up again. I’ll try to signal for help when I
think the boy’s safe.”

“Wait Whitney. Not yet. Get
farther away. I can’t help you now and he could find you first. Keep going and
don’t worry about me.”

Nick sat quietly trying to
listen for the sound of an ATV. They hadn’t followed the trail, so he would probably
go in the other direction, but Nick knew he wouldn’t give up easily. He heard a
plane in the distance and tried to will it to find Whitney and Dustin. The
plane droned away in the other direction, and it was quiet again.

Another hour passed and Nick
couldn’t take it anymore. He spent his time thinking about Whitney, her house,
her body, and even her birds. Then he pictured Teddy’s reaction when he’d heard
Nick was missing. He’d probably think Nick had it all under control but he would
still be up on the mountain searching for him. Nick was sore and tired, and
extremely thirsty. He had to get up and move. The leaves were tickling his nose
and he desperately had to relieve himself.

Another plane came by and was
heading in his direction. Nick thought about jumping out and trying to flag
them down. He wiggled his feet to be sure he could move them and then listened
again. Suddenly he froze in place. It wasn’t a plane. It was an ATV. He tried
not to move and hoped he hadn’t wiggled the leaves off his legs.

“Whitney, I can hear him. Are
you there?”

“Yes, we’re taking a break now.
He won’t find us here. Be careful Nick. He knows we’re not on the trails.”

“I heard the ATV, but it’s
quiet now.”

“He’s on foot. He’s following
the messed up leaves and broken twigs we left behind. He knows how to track and
he’s heading your way. He knows the woods Nick and he’s found our trail.”

Nick was hardly even breathing
as he listened for footsteps in the forest. They hadn’t been very careful
getting down. His injured leg had probably left a trail pointing right to his
hiding spot. It had been dragging pretty bad right before he collapsed.

“It’s hard to believe I’m a
detective right now,” he thought. “I’m so stupid! I just left a perfect trail
for the killer to follow. At least Whitney and the boy will be safe.”

The birds were chirping and the
bugs were starting to crawl over him. He was sure that if something crawled
into his pants trying to get out of the sun, he’d have to move
.
He was
busy listing all the poisonous insects in Arizona when he heard the leaves
rustling. After listening for a while he thought maybe he’d imagined it.

“Whitney. What’s happening? I
thought I heard him close by.”

“Nick, he thinks he’s onto you.
You both seem like you’re in the same place. Be careful.”

* * * *

Whitney couldn’t stand it. Nick
needed her and she was running away. Derrick wouldn’t follow the boy if she
went back. He was too obsessed with her at this point. She tried to make Dustin
understand she was going back for Nick.

“Dustin, I need to go back. Can
you wait here for me?

He shook his head no and clung
to her arms.

“You can’t leave me here alone.
I’m scared.”

“You’ve been through a lot, and
you did great. You’re a strong boy. I need your help to make sure he doesn’t
kill Nick. Can you help me save him?”

He didn’t answer, but his grip
loosened a little.

“I’m going to find a cave for
you to hide in.”

“Not a cave.” He was crying
again.

“Okay, you’re right. Not a
cave. How about you sit right here behind this boulder and don’t move. I’ll
come back for you or send your mommy. Okay?”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

He let go of her shirt and
curled up on the ground next to the boulder. “I won’t move. Come back and get
me soon.”

“I will,” she said kissing his
head. “I’m going to start a fire for the planes and helicopters to find you,
okay? Can you try to keep it going and make it really smoky?”

The boy sat up and looked more
hopeful. “I’m good at fires. I always try not to make them smoky so I know what
to do. I can use wet leaves and stuff, right?”

“That’s perfect,” she said
patting his head. “Just don’t go far and don’t let the fire spread.”

“No problem,” he said,
attention shifted to his new task. “You can count on me.”

She helped with the fire and
then started climbing back down the mountain. Opening her link to Nick, she
held back the fact that she was running back into danger. He was still alive but
she could feel his heart racing as he tried to keep his breathing quiet. He
could hear Derrick kicking around in the brush.

Whitney heard him thinking, “Why
did I think lying down was a good idea? I’m helpless.”

“That’s because you couldn’t
stand up,” she thought back to him.

“Well, I’d rather be upright
and facing him when he finds me. Shhh now. I have to concentrate on not moving.
Don’t talk right now.”

Whitney knew Derrick would find
him soon so she had to move fast. She tried to run but the rocks kept tripping
her up. Her mind was racing. She had to come up with a plan. This guy had guns,
knives and strength. What could she use against him? He was crazy, which should
help. He probably wasn’t thinking logically right now. He was angry and in a
hurry to find them before they escaped. He also knew Nick was injured.

She realized he must have been
quite shocked to find them all gone. He thought she was dead. Maybe he thought
Nick dragged her all this way. She hurried across the small valley and started
back up the mountain toward the cabin. She needed to look for another weapon, a
gun or a bigger knife. Maybe he had a phone and she hadn’t seen it. She slipped
again on the way up and landed face down on her belly.

Rolling onto her back she sat
up and froze in place. A huge rattlesnake had slithered just inches from her
left foot. She tried not to move, but her legs started cramping from the
overload of adrenaline. The snake’s tongue was darting out and tasting the air,
but then it just turned and slithered away. Whitney sprung to her feet and
raced back up the mountain.

* * * *

Nick was getting desperate. He
hadn’t moved for so long, his muscles were twitching in pain. Derrick was so
close he could hear him making noises of frustration and anger.

The noise stopped and he heard
Derrick muttering, “Whitney, where are you? I’m coming to get you. Bitch!”

Nick hoped he’d find the
strength to beat the crap out of the sick man when they finally finished this
deal. Except, if he didn’t have the strength, and he knew he didn’t, then Derrick
would win and next he’d be after Whitney. Hopefully they were far away by now. The
sound of footsteps on the leaves and twigs got closer. Nick held his breath and
prayed for a miracle.

* * * *

Whitney continued climbing and
tried not to think about how badly she needed water. Her legs were getting
shaky and she hadn’t eaten much in the last two days. When she finally found the
cabin she had to stop to catch her breath. She tried contacting Nick to see if
Derrick was still close, but he didn’t answer.

Whitney thought about trying to
make noise at the cabin to get Derrick away from Nick. He was spending hours in
that same area searching for their trail. Whitney had covered the mess they
made dragging Nick to the tree, but Derrick kept looking around in that spot
because the trail ended so abruptly.

Before she drew his attention
back to the cabin she had to find a way to defend herself. The screen door on
the front was ripped off the hinges and tossed onto the porch. Stepping inside
the first thing she did was search for a phone. There were no phone lines, and
no phone. She checked the desk, but all the knives were gone.

After searching the front room
completely, she moved on to the kitchen. There were rows of water bottles in
the refrigerator. Whitney downed a whole bottle while she checked all the
cupboards. The little hall off the kitchen led to the back door. She opened a
closet to find a dirty yellow backpack. Thinking she could fill it with food
and water, she dumped its contents on the floor.

“A radio! Oh my God. We’re
saved”.
She scooped up the radio and turned it on. First, she had to
know if Derrick was listening on another one. She reached out with her mind.

“Nick. Just listen to me. I
know he’s close. I’m back at the cabin and I found a radio. I’m going to say
something. Let me know if he hears me. I need to know if he has another radio.”

“Okay.”

Nick’s answer was short and
crisp. As if his stalker would hear him thinking. He was so close that the
slightest movement would give him away. He listened for the sound of a radio,
but didn’t hear anything. Whitney contacted him again and Nick told her it was
all clear. He was not happy that she’d come back for him but he didn’t have
time to tell her because his attention turned to the sound of laughing right by
his head.

“I found you. So that’s where
he dragged you. He’ll probably be back to get you when he thinks it’s safe.”

Derrick brushed the leaves back
from Nick’s face and jumped back in surprise.

“Boo.” Nick couldn’t help
saying it when he saw the look on Derrick’s face. It was as if he’d just
uncovered a ghost.

“Not funny.” He pointed the
rifle at Nick’s face and ordered him to stand up. Nick could barely feel his
legs and Derrick had little patience left.

“Get up!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying. I’ve
been laying here for hours not moving while you walked all around me. My body’s
a little stiff.” He had to get feeling back in his legs before he could make a
move.

“What the hell are you doing
hiding here? Where’d you put the boy? Where’s Whitney’s body? You’d better
start talking Mr. Policeman.”

“Whitney’s alive and fine. She’s
far away from here by now. What do ya think of that?” Nick leaned against the
tree for support.

He looked at Nick’s wounds and
the way he held his body against the tree. “You’re not doing so well, are you
Mr. Detective? I guess I gave you quite a beating. So you’re pretty girlfriend
left you behind to save herself and the boy. Not very nice of her.”

Nick didn’t answer and it
seemed to irritate Derrick.

“Where are they?” He shoved the
gun in Nick’s face.

“They left me here and went
back.” If he pointed him west, he could find the boy. If he pointed him back
east, he might go back by the cabin and find Whitney. He was trying to work it
out when Derrick shoved the gun in his stomach.

“What do you mean back? Which
way?” He seemed to think about it for just a few seconds and then he relaxed. “Oh
forget it. I have a better idea.”

He told Nick to turn around and
tied his hands behind his back. Then he pushed him up the path back toward the
cabin.

Nick could only walk a few
steps before stumbling, so it was a slow process. Looking up at Derrick after
falling for what seemed like the hundredth time, he asked “Where are you taking
me? Why not just get it over with?”

“You’re so stupid you can’t
even figure it out. I can’t believe cops are this stupid.” Derrick spoke so
fast it made Nick think the man was truly deranged at this point. “I should try
something to make myself some money sometime. Your buddies would never catch
me. Are they all as stupid as you?”

“Yup. We’re all stupid cops just
wandering around looking for someone to shoot.” Nick put on his best dumb hick
voice.