by Wood, Lorena
Whitney felt Nick’s mind slip into dreams, and she tried to do the same. She kept glancing over to see if the man was still sleeping. He looked like a man, but sometimes he acted like a little boy. He was so excited about his new found knowledge, and his little machine. Now he was sleeping like a baby. If only she could untie the ropes, but they were too tight. She couldn’t get the knot in her fingers. After about an hour of trying to get to the knots, she gave up. The man was snoring now. Her head got heavy and she tried to rest. She would doze off only to wake up each time her head fell forward. Too bad she didn’t get any of that sedative. She eventually let the exhaustion take her and her head dropped down. Her dreams were filled with little boys calling her name, and Nick’s bloody body rolling down the mountain.
* * * *
The killer’s dreams were filled with Whitney’s face. She floated up next to him and took off her velvet robe. He reached out to touch her and she laughed and flew away. Suddenly a bow was in his hand and he shot an arrow toward the flying vision. She dropped to the ground and lay still. He ran over to her and touched her neck. No pulse. He had killed her. Not yet! He shook her and she opened her eyes. That was better. He trailed his hand down her skin. He knew it would be soft. He touched her breasts and she smiled up at him. He knew she wanted him. He leaned down to kiss her and she rolled away from him. She stood up and took a few steps back. “Come and get me.”
His feet suddenly felt like lead. He couldn’t move. His arms reached toward her and she continued to back away. “Come back here bitch!” he yelled. She laughed at him and turned her back. He looked down and his feet were tied to a chair. He was back in the cabin and he was the one that was tied up. She was standing over him.
“How do you like it?” she asked sweetly. His hands were free, but he couldn’t untie the knots that held his feet. She started laughing and then the boy on the couch sat up and started laughing. The door opened and all the boys that he’d killed were coming toward him. Their skin was gray and decomposing, but the blood still dripped from their wounds.
He sat up in a panic and ripped the glasses off his eyes. His heart was racing and he couldn’t catch his breath. The woman was sleeping again with her hair falling over her face and onto her legs. It was so long that it touched the calf of her leg. His breathing calmed and he checked on the boy. Still sleeping. He wondered how long you could keep someone alive like that. He had made a mistake with Kevin and it had almost killed him. Too bad it hadn’t. But that wasn’t the way he had planned it. The drugs were just to get them under control before he took their life. It didn’t feel right unless they knew what was happening and saw his face as they died.
The dream had shaken him and he needed to clear his mind. He went outside to get some fresh air, and walked to the shed around back. It was dark inside, so he lit one of the candles. The shed was filled with shelves on every wall. The wall on the left held some of his trophies. A couple of shelves were broken from the time he had come in here in a fit of anger. He had lashed out and ended up breaking things. He turned to the shelf in the back. The candlelight was enough for him to see what it held.
Seven pairs of boys’ athletic shoes were lined up on in a row. His hand reached up to touch each pair and he counted them again. These were the important trophies. They represented seven boys that couldn’t hurt him, or his family, again. The empty shelves below them were reserved for more shoes. That was the only kind of trophy he was interested in now. To complete his objective he would have to make sure they were filled. He turned to the shelves on the other side. He might even fill these up with some women’s shoes. He laughed out loud and his hand shot to his mouth. He held it over his lips hoping no one had heard him. He knew the chances of anyone finding them were next to impossible, but it paid to be careful. He was always careful, and smart. That was why they would never catch him.
“I must be getting tired,” he thought. “That stupid cop is dead, and I have all the time in the world. They won’t find me now that I have her.”
She was the only one he had feared because she could have ruined all his hard work. Now he was back in control of everything. He walked back to the house and checked on his guests. The woman’s head was rising and falling as she slept. He reached out toward her hair and then pulled his hand back.
“Not yet,” he told himself. “Don’t rush it.”
He had so many plans and more kept popping into his head. He didn’t want it to be over too fast. He wanted time to figure out exactly what he wanted and needed from her. A good night’s sleep would keep him from rushing things. He wanted her at her best too. Tomorrow he would have some fun with her. He locked the door and sat back down in the chair. The bed looked so inviting, but he didn’t want to chance it. If she woke and started bumping around the room, he would make sure he was there to see it. He might just play possum and watch her a while just for the fun of it.
The possibilities were spinning through his mind faster than he could keep track of them. He knew he couldn’t stay in the mountains too long, or someone would start missing him. He’d have to think this through and get the most out of the situation. He deserved some fun after all the hard work he’d been doing.
“Stupid dream. She won’t be able to get away from me once I decide it’s time. I’m the boss here. For once in my life, I’m in control.” The smile returned to his lips and he closed his eyes. He pictured himself untying Whitney as she slept and carrying her to his bed. He could make his own dream. He imagined himself stripping her clothes off as she slept. She wouldn’t move as he touched and kissed the forbidden places. He would finally kiss her mouth and she would wake up smiling. Or, he thought, maybe she woke up screaming.
“Tell me you want it baby,” he would say. If she didn’t cooperate, he would just threaten to kill the boy. The thought of waking her up was getting him excited, but he knew that the time wasn’t right. He needed the boy to wake up a little so he could use him in his testing. This was so fun he might just have to do it again. How hard could it be to track down a few more beautiful women? They didn’t have to be psychic, just pretty. He went to sleep imagining all the things he would do with Whitney in the morning.
Chapter 16
Whitney’s neck was so sore she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. It took a while for her to be able to wiggle it enough to get the muscles to work. When she finally lifted her head enough to look around, she could see the man sleeping in the chair in front of her. By the time she could get her head up where it belonged, she could see the sun was already up.
“Nick. Nick. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m here Whitney. I slept for a while. Sorry.”
“Don’t say sorry. God, you should be in a hospital.”
“I’ve been walking for a while this morning. Am I getting closer?”
Whitney tried to get a sense of distance from her conversation with Nick. She could feel the presence of other’s farther away looking for them. If only she could contact them, but she couldn’t find a link. She turned her attention back to Nick.
“You’re getting close. I think people are out there looking for us. I can’t reach anyone yet. I tried to link to someone but they’re too far.”
“I’ve seen helicopters looking southwest of here. We can’t signal them yet until you’re out of danger.”
It was quiet as Whitney watched the man in the chair and Nick continued hiking toward her. His wounds were red and sore, and the bullet in his shoulder was getting infected. He was sweaty and weak, and probably running a fever. He had to rescue Whitney today, before his body gave out.
“He’s waking up Nick. I’ll check back with you later.”
Nick’s heart sped up. “Shit. I’ve got to find her. If that guy touches her…” He picked up the pace and followed the trail as it turned up toward another mountain.
* * * *
The killer woke from his dream in a panic. He sat up and let out a breath when he saw her still tied to the chair
.
“Man, it’s finally the right time,” he thought. “I can hardly wait to get to the fun stuff. First things first.” He rose and went into the bedroom get ready for the day.
Whitney had sensed something from him this time. Right after he woke up, she had a feeling he was thinking about touching her. She shivered as the thought pierced her heart. No. Not again. Memories of the childhood abduction swam back through her mind. She hadn’t imagined he would want her for that. She was afraid to die, but the thought of him touching her made her wish he would just kill her quickly.
“Can’t let Nick know what’s going on. He’ll hurt himself trying to get here faster. If I do die, I don’t want his last memories to be of me…”
Her head dropped back down and she started crying. There was no way she wanted to reach out for Nick when this maniac came for her. She couldn’t let him feel that. Her life had been full of traumatic memories from other people. Life was hard enough with your own experiences inside your head. She was determined not to burden Nick with this.
The man came back in the room and sat his chair in front of Whitney.
“Will you let me go to the bathroom and get cleaned up?”
“Not yet honey. You just wait. First we have a few more things I’d like to know, and then I’ll let you out of that chair. If you cooperated real nice, I might let you and the boy live. If not, the boy dies first.”
“What do you want me to do?” Whitney was afraid to ask, but she couldn’t watch him kill the boy either.
“First, I want you to know who I am. You need to see if you can figure it out. Oh yeah, so did it seem like I was gone last night when I meditated?”
“Uh huh. I wouldn’t have known you were here if I wasn’t looking right at you.”
She could tell that made him happy. She was beginning to be able to read him better. His energy was powerful and erratic. It was just a matter of finding the patterns and interrupting them. It wasn’t something she did consciously, but she knew when it was happening.
“Okay. We know you can’t read my mind like this, but maybe if I let you touch me. I want to know just how much it takes for you to figure me out.”
He moved his chair closer and reached out his hand. It hovered near her breasts before he lifted it and placed it on her cheek.
“Umm. Smooth like I thought it would be.” He wasn’t trying to disguise his voice, and he sounded like he wasn’t much older than a teenager.
“If you hold your hand still I’ll try to figure out who you are,” Whitney said hoping to draw things out.
His hand rested on her cheek and he placed his other hand on her leg. “Go for it.”
The excitement he was feeling was easy to pick up on. He wanted her, and that came through loud and clear. He also planned to kill them both, no matter what happened. She had to pretend she didn’t know that. His thoughts were so focused on her, that’s all she could feel at first. After a few minutes, his mind turned to the killings. He was wondering if she would know everything he had done. His thoughts were suddenly clear in her mind.
She waited for his reflection to turn to his identity. He was thinking about Ann Marie. She was his mother. Her mind raced back to the Kensington family. She had a six year old and the boy in the wheelchair. She didn’t know if there was another son but this man viewed Anne Marie as his mother. He wanted his mother to love him. She only loved the little athletes. He had to protect his little brother.
The killer drew his hands away and put his face close to hers. “Well, what’s my name?”
“I…I don’t know. I can’t read you enough. I can sense some of your feelings, but that’s all.” She tried to appeal to his need for approval. “Nobody appreciates how much work you’ve done. How hard you try to be a good son and brother.”
“So you can read my mind,” he said clapping his hands. “Must be because I’m not blocking you and now I’ve touched you. You are right. I’ve done it all for them.” He touched her leg again. “Why don’t you know who I am?”
“I don’t know your name. Why don’t you tell me?”
“One more little experiment. You rest and do whatever you have to do to keep up your energy. I’m going to wake the boy. Let’s see if you can figure it out from him.”
He walked over and shook the boy’s shoulders.
“Time to wake up Dustin. You haven’t had any medicine today so you should be able to think a little better.”
The boy tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn’t stay open.
“That’s it. All I need you to do is think about me. That pretty psychic lady’s here to help you. She wants to know who took you. Think about it. Who did you see by your tent the other morning.”
When Whitney realized what he was trying to do, she opened her mind to the boy’s thoughts. He still wasn’t very lucid. The memories flooded in and out as he tried to remember where he was.
The killer’s voice sounded young again. “Remember camping with your Daddy, Dustin? You got up early, and saw me in the woods. I needed your help. Who did you see?”
The boys mind was back at the campsite. He zipped up the tent door to go outside and pee. He was so excited to be up before everyone else. His Dad would be so proud of him when he saw the fire he built. He walked to the woods to relieve himself and then started picking up wood. He saw someone lying on the ground and got scared for a minute. Then he heard his voice.
“Dustin, it’s me. I fell down and hurt myself. Help me.”
The boy was walking toward the person on the ground now. He knelt down and spoke. “How did you get here?”
Suddenly the boy’s mouth was covered with a cloth and he couldn’t breathe. He tried to scream but no one heard him. He didn’t remember what happened after that until he woke up tied up.
“Help me!” the boy screamed. “Someone help me. It’s him. Somebody stop him before he hurts me anymore.”
Whitney reached out with her mind to sooth the boy. “It’s okay now. Help is on the way. Just lay there quietly and we’ll be okay. Go back to sleep.”
She wasn’t sure if the boy heard her, or just couldn’t stay awake. His head fell back and his breathing slowed.
* * * *
Teddy talked with the doctor outside of Kevin’s room. “Has he named anyone yet?”
“He hasn’t said much as far as I know,” the doctor answered as he read the notes on his clip board.
They walked into the room and Mrs. Hunter reluctantly moved away from the bed so they could see Kevin.
Teddy smiled down at Kevin and took his hand. “Hey Buddy. Glad to see you decided to join us. How ya feeling?”
Kevin gave a small grunt and his lips curved into a smile. He cleared his throat and pointed to his water. Teddy handed him the glass and helped him sit up higher.
“Hard to talk after such a long nap huh? I bet you’re getting pretty tired of that bed.”
Kevin nodded and handed him back the glass.
“Listen, we know you’re still a little tired, but we were hoping you could help us out. We want to stop the person who did this to you. Can you tell us what you remember?”
Kevin looked away and didn’t answer. He finally looked back to Teddy and spoke in a whisper.
“Does the lady know?”
“What lady?”
“The lady that came to see me here. She talked to me in my dreams. I heard she knows things.”
“You mean Miss Bentley. She doesn’t know.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“She’ll probably be in to visit soon. She’s helping to look for a boy lost in the mountains right now.”
Kevin turned his head away and started crying.
“Kevin, what is it?”
“Derrick. It was Derrick.”
“Derrick? The boy in the wheelchair? He took you into the desert?”
“He wasn’t…not in a chair…walking…”
“Kevin, are you sure it was Derrick?”
“Find the lady. Keep her
away from him…he’s bad.”
His voice trailed off and the Nurse rushed into the room.
“He needs to rest now. His heart rate and breathing are up too much.”
Kevin’s eyes had closed and Teddy knew the interview was over. Teddy didn’t bother to wait until he was out of the hospital to use his cell. He had to let the captain know and get some men to Derrick’s house.
Teddy raced over to the Kensington house and pulled up just as another patrol car pulled in the driveway. The captain called and told them to wait for the search warrant. It only took fifteen more minutes but it felt like an hour to Teddy. He knew that Nick and Whitney were missing from the search and he was worried about his partner. When they finally went inside, no one was home
Searching through Derrick’s room they found a credit card statement showing he visited a Showlow gas station quite regularly. That town was a right in the middle of the search effort. He hadn’t used it for any other stores in the area. There were lots of Internet purchases including night vision goggles, guns, knives, and more of the same.
Teddy hoped Nick was just lost, or out of range. If he ran into this guy on his own it wouldn’t be good. After the search of the house was complete, Teddy drove straight for Showlow. His partner would need backup this time for sure.
* * * *
The man stood up and laughed. He pulled off the mask and spread out his arms. “Ta Da!”
“Derrick?” Her chest constricted as the truth hit. “I… I don’t get it. I thought…”
“Yup, you and every other loser in the valley,” he laughed.
“Wait,” she said, feeling like she had to catch her breath. “Have you been able to walk this whole time?”
“I had a spinal injury in college. I couldn’t walk at first. When I started to get the feeling back in my legs, I was too depressed to care. I’d already ruined my life. I was a failure before the accident. So I just stayed in the chair. People don’t expect much when you’re in a chair.”
“So you pretended you were paralyzed, to avoid facing up to your life,” Whitney said incredulously.