Whispers of a Killer by Jen Haeger

Author:Jen Haeger [Haeger, Jen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarsdale Publishing, Ltd
Published: 2019-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

“The officer involved in the shooting of an unarmed man with a WHISP was acquitted of all charges today after the jury agreed with the defense’s claims the man threatened the officer and tried to flee the scene. This is the fourth incidence of alleged anti-WHISP violence by Las Vegas police officers in the past six months.”

Fox Local News at 7 Las Vegas

“But if there’s no physical tether, than why would it hurt?”

Lila sighs. “Personally, I’d say it’s psychosomatic, but it’s theorized since some of the WHISP particles come from the source human, the loss of the electrical input from those particles triggers a pain response.” Her eyes flicker away from mine and she licks her lips. “Also, there’s other repercussions of the forced separation.”

“What do you mean, repercussions?”

She folds her hands on top of her desk and her gaze returns to my face. “The separation may damage the source human.”

A chasm opens up in my chest. “Damage? What kind of damage?”

“Psychological...perhaps neurological.”

I open my mouth, but Lila sighs heavily and continues, “A source human which has been forcibly separated from its WHISP for extended periods of time may exhibit clinical signs of post-traumatic stress and certain, how shall I say, neurologic deficits.”

“Brain damage?”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it quite that dramatically, but I guess you could say that.”

“You’ve done this to people? What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Lila’s mouth all but disappears in an angry, thin line.

“Now, now, Detective, you’ve already signed a document stating nothing I say here should or can be considered incriminating in any supposed criminal offense. I am merely answering your questions as a courtesy, one I can revoke at any time.”

Wrathful blood rushes into my cheeks. I would love to slap handcuffs onto this smug woman’s wrists right now, but I’m alone here, without backup, and legally, I’m on very thin ice. Also, I still need answers and I don’t know anywhere else to get them. “Okay, so let me just do a little recap here. There is no physical tether connecting a WHISP to a human.”

“Right.”

“And WHISPs can therefore be separated from their humans and experimentally have been separated up to hundreds of miles without the WHISP dissipating, but it’s painful and…damaging for the human.”

“True.”

My train of thought derails. What if Chester was damaged by WHISP separation before she became a killer? She was found competent to stand trial. Still… My stomach twists into a knot of uncertainty and I have to swallow back the lump of guilt in my throat. “How long before damage occurs? You said an extended period of time, what’s extended?”

“It probably varies person to person, but we’ve seen significant damage begin within an hour.”

“An hour, okay.” Getting back on track. “And WHISPs separated more than six feet no longer move in response to their humans, but are influenced by other electromagnetic forces.”

“Six and a half feet, but yes.”

It’s a lot of disturbing information to process, but it isn’t answering my main questions. “And, have you ever seen a WHISP moving without a clear outside influence affecting it?”

“Yes.

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