too serious, she thought. I wonder if he’s married.
“You married?”
He didn’t respond. To be doing something, he lifted his cup and sipped his coffee.
“I only ask because you look really uptight. A wife can help with that. Loosen things up a little.”
“So now you give relationship advice? A girl who has reportedly never had a boyfriend. Why’s that? Was it because just a few years ago you were a victim of trichotillomania ? Come on Sarah. Don’t assume we’re stupid. I know everything about you.”
Sarah was stunned. For the first time in a long time, she was surprised. How could he know that kind of information? Pulling her hair out had been a long time ago. She’d stopped doing it when she was nineteen. Since then it had grown in lovely. By looking at her now, you could not tell that most of her hair had been missing years ago. When she was kidnapped at eighteen years of age, her kidnapper asked what was wrong with her. He described her as a cancer patient after the chemo treatments. That’s how bad she looked. But not now.
The Hungarian cop knew a lot. He’d done his research. But could he have found all that out since she’d been here? Or were they following her since she’d arrived in Budapest?
Then it hit her.
English had said something about doing his job last night. He was with the officers this morning at the hotel. She had originally thought he was there to aid in the identification of the suspect, but he was there in an official capacity.
English was a cop and he and his cop buddies had been following her. The Hungarian police had been onto her for weeks now, watching, researching and keeping tabs on her. She was sure of it.
But why? What had she done? Nothing on their soil yet. She hadn’t even helped an unsuspecting accident victim or saved anyone’s life because Vivian hadn’t been in touch.
Her head shot up. She snapped her fingers and smiled.
That had to be it. Vivian was quiet because she was being watched. Vivian didn’t want the watchers to learn anything more than they already had. I’m sure of it.
The cop had been watching her as she ruminated. He jumped a little when she snapped her fingers, but remained quiet.
“You seem to know a lot about me,” Sarah said.
“Not really. We ran your passport and got the usual basics. Hometown, parents, schools, you know. Although we did find something out that was quite unusual.”
Sarah sipped her coffee again. She didn’t know when she’d get another one that tasted this good. “What was that?”
“You’ve been a busy girl. You’re something of a hero back in the States. You want to tell me about that?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? It may help you here.”
There it is. They want information on her Automatic Writing. They want to know how it works and why she was in their country. Was she here because she knew something?
Her abilities scared people because they weren’t something that most people had encountered. The unknown always did serve a dish of nerves to the ignorant.
That was why she tried to remain an unknown. She had tried to keep under the radar for so many years. It was people like Parkman who had hunted her down and kept tabs on her activities for years. Once he’d compiled an accurate picture of her and what she had been up to, all it did was pique the interest of everyone from psychics to scientists.
“I did nothing wrong in your country. We have nothing to discuss. When you’re done here, you will either drive me to the airport so I can continue my journey or you will deliver me to my embassy where I will continue my journey. Either way you play it, I’m leaving this fucking place and heading home. So go ahead. Give me your worst.”
She sat back and took a couple deep gulps of her coffee, draining half of it. The warmth soothed her.
She felt better. Much better. If they had been watching her,
“You married?”
He didn’t respond. To be doing something, he lifted his cup and sipped his coffee.
“I only ask because you look really uptight. A wife can help with that. Loosen things up a little.”
“So now you give relationship advice? A girl who has reportedly never had a boyfriend. Why’s that? Was it because just a few years ago you were a victim of trichotillomania ? Come on Sarah. Don’t assume we’re stupid. I know everything about you.”
Sarah was stunned. For the first time in a long time, she was surprised. How could he know that kind of information? Pulling her hair out had been a long time ago. She’d stopped doing it when she was nineteen. Since then it had grown in lovely. By looking at her now, you could not tell that most of her hair had been missing years ago. When she was kidnapped at eighteen years of age, her kidnapper asked what was wrong with her. He described her as a cancer patient after the chemo treatments. That’s how bad she looked. But not now.
The Hungarian cop knew a lot. He’d done his research. But could he have found all that out since she’d been here? Or were they following her since she’d arrived in Budapest?
Then it hit her.
English had said something about doing his job last night. He was with the officers this morning at the hotel. She had originally thought he was there to aid in the identification of the suspect, but he was there in an official capacity.
English was a cop and he and his cop buddies had been following her. The Hungarian police had been onto her for weeks now, watching, researching and keeping tabs on her. She was sure of it.
But why? What had she done? Nothing on their soil yet. She hadn’t even helped an unsuspecting accident victim or saved anyone’s life because Vivian hadn’t been in touch.
Her head shot up. She snapped her fingers and smiled.
That had to be it. Vivian was quiet because she was being watched. Vivian didn’t want the watchers to learn anything more than they already had. I’m sure of it.
The cop had been watching her as she ruminated. He jumped a little when she snapped her fingers, but remained quiet.
“You seem to know a lot about me,” Sarah said.
“Not really. We ran your passport and got the usual basics. Hometown, parents, schools, you know. Although we did find something out that was quite unusual.”
Sarah sipped her coffee again. She didn’t know when she’d get another one that tasted this good. “What was that?”
“You’ve been a busy girl. You’re something of a hero back in the States. You want to tell me about that?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? It may help you here.”
There it is. They want information on her Automatic Writing. They want to know how it works and why she was in their country. Was she here because she knew something?
Her abilities scared people because they weren’t something that most people had encountered. The unknown always did serve a dish of nerves to the ignorant.
That was why she tried to remain an unknown. She had tried to keep under the radar for so many years. It was people like Parkman who had hunted her down and kept tabs on her activities for years. Once he’d compiled an accurate picture of her and what she had been up to, all it did was pique the interest of everyone from psychics to scientists.
“I did nothing wrong in your country. We have nothing to discuss. When you’re done here, you will either drive me to the airport so I can continue my journey or you will deliver me to my embassy where I will continue my journey. Either way you play it, I’m leaving this fucking place and heading home. So go ahead. Give me your worst.”
She sat back and took a couple deep gulps of her coffee, draining half of it. The warmth soothed her.
She felt better. Much better. If they had been watching her,
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