Free Vibrations by Lorena Wood Page B

to check out the area and my mom led the way.
The man who was holding me heard people coming and he took off.”
    Whitney’s
body was shaking but she continued, determined to explain her reasons for
putting herself in danger by telling the full story. “Then I started screaming
out loud. They all came running and I passed out. The cops managed to find the
man and he was put away for a long time. He confessed to quite a few other
unsolved abductions. He was pretty spooked they had found him and thought maybe
God was judging him. He killed himself in prison years later.”
    Nick
watched Whitney’s eyes reliving the events of the past. She had gone pale and
was shaking. He moved over to sit by her on the couch. “I’m so sorry to make
you drag that up. I didn’t mean to cause more pain for you.”
    “It’s okay. There’s just a
little more. I should explain the rest since I’ve told you this much. I tried
to be normal after that. The police never said anything about what happened
with my mom. I don’t think they could believe it. After that I was much more
sensitive and I found I had many new talents. My mom talked with me and
explained I shouldn’t let people know. When bad things were happening to other
kids, I knew it and I felt helpless. I decided when I grew up, I would use my
gift to help people, especially kids. Every time I heard about someone getting
abducted or molested, I felt guilty that I had escaped, and they hadn’t. As
soon as I turned eighteen I went to the police and offered to help. Of course
they thought I was crazy.”
    “I moved out to Arizona when I
was twenty and started working with the police department here. I was successful
enough to get noticed and the FBI offered me a job. I’m not actually an FBI
agent. Maybe if I were actually part of the team I would have more help. I’m
basically a civilian giving them a hand. They do have other people with gifts
like mine that are actually agents. They get called in for the more dangerous
jobs.”
    “This seems pretty dangerous to
me.” Nick didn’t like thinking about what she went through each time she helped
track a killer.
    “I’m not really in danger. It’s
hard, and it takes an emotional toll, but the killer doesn’t know about me. I
reach the scene after the fact. The worst part is when I fail, and people die.
I…” Whitney tried to keep the tears from falling. She hadn’t talked about this
for a long time, and the emotions were becoming too much. She turned away from
Nick, but he heard a small sob escape, and he reached out for her chin. He
turned her toward him.
    “You can cry Whitney. You’ve
earned it.”
    The thought of being honest and
sharing her pain with someone made her uncomfortable. She had imagined having a
friend like that, but her previous attempts had never worked out. No one could
really relate to her issues and no one liked having her in their head all the
time. She had shared this time to make Nick understand her need to succeed. She
hadn’t expected the tears or the sympathy.
    Nick put his arm around her and
pulled her head to his chest. He could smell the scent of her hair. She smelled
like vanilla. He held her close and waited. She was tense at first, and then
she seemed to give in and relax. He could feel the warm tears falling onto his
arm.
    “Let it out Whit. Take some
time to heal yourself. I’m here.” He waited until her breathing calmed down to
push the hair out of her eyes and brush some tears from her cheeks.
    “I’ve had my share of failures
and I know it’s not easy. I’m glad I can’t feel the victim’s pain on top of
everything else.”
    Whitney realized he was
thinking about his past failures. She could see the woman in his mind. He had
gotten too involved in one case two years ago. He became very close to a woman
who was being stalked. He promised her he’d keep her safe. In the end, he held
her in his arms as she died. He tried to tell her how sorry he was but it
didn’t help.