by Geri Krotow
I’m in Silver Valley, Pennsylvania. I am safe. Today is Monday and it’s a B day on the school schedule.
The practiced reminder of reality settled him.
“Mr. Everlock?” Bright blue eyes reflected no notice of Mitch’s brief return to what had been his hell on earth.
“Shoot, Gabi.” Gabriella Boland had that line between her carefully shaped eyebrows, the line that meant he’d better pay attention. The straight-A student and senior class homecoming queen was as formidable in chemistry class as she was on the basketball court, where she hoped to lead her team to the state championships as she had last season.
“When are we going to get into how we can use chemistry to help the environment instead of making compounds that harm it?” Her face was innocent enough, her question valid, but could Gabi be the teen who’d written the message earlier? The one who’d left notes last semester, leading up to the last few weeks of school before summer break?
Keep your cool.
He hated how the threats were making him suspicious of every one of his students. It was like being back in the war—he couldn’t trust anyone.
“That’s something you can explore in your environmental studies at college, Gabi. For now, we’ll focus on getting our study guides in shape to tackle the final exams in six months. Mine and the IB’s.”
A collective groan rose at the mention of the International Baccalaureate exams that had, for this class, replaced the Advance Placement—AP—exams. Mitch held up a hand. “It’s the end of the first semester for me, too, folks. You’re not the only ones with a full load. You think I wouldn’t rather be getting my Christmas shopping done?”
Immediately wisecracks flew across the room, the students snickering as though they were back in middle school. Mitch ignored it. This was Mitch’s sixth class of seniors since he’d left the Corps, gone back to college and started his teaching career.
The bell rang and the classroom emptied. Mitch had two periods without class in front of him, almost two full hours. Instead of using the valuable time to grade homework or to prepare his lessons for the chemistry review, he had to go to SVPD and put in a full report of what had happened in his classroom since when the notes started last March. He’d given the responding officer his take and then been asked to leave the classroom while a forensics team did their work. It had chapped his ass to be cut out but he’d complied. As far as the SVPD was concerned, he was a normal high school teacher.
“Are the Rainbows still having their holiday celebration, Mr. Everlock?” Rachel Boyle had hung back when the other students had rushed out. Now she stood in front of Mitch’s desk, her close-shaven head a stark contrast to her large brown eyes and expertly made-up face.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”
Please, please don’t let it be Rachel. Or Gabi. Or any of my students...
She shifted on her feet. “I heard that some parents were stirring up the pot again.”
“Which parents would that be?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t say.”
“Who’s ‘they,’ Rachel?”
“Just some of the kids at lunch. The hot gossip is that you’ve been getting warnings from the principal to cancel the Rainbows.” Her stance remained neutral but he couldn’t discount the concern in her eyes. The Rainbows had taken Rachel in as a sullen, shy freshman and helped her build her confidence to become the strong young woman who stood before him. A bright student who’d been dropping in her scores, showing less and less interest in her academics. Lately the Rainbows seemed to be all she cared about.
Mitch sighed. “You know I’ll never let them cut the Rainbows or any of its programming from the schedule. And Principal Essis is never going to let anything happen to the club, either. Silver Valley High is about inclusion, period. You know that and enforce it better than I do, Rachel.”
“I know you’re behind us, and most of the teachers are, but some of the parents are crazy, you know? They think the Rainbows turned their children gay, lesbian, bi or trans, and they’ll do anything they can to shut it down.”
“I can assure you, Rachel, that Silver Valley High will keep the Rainbows going as long as I’m here. And Principal Essis is supporting us, too.” He looked at Rachel. She dated boys but had shared at one of the Rainbows meetings that she’d joined because she understood what it felt like to not fit in, and wanted to support all students at SVHS. She wanted to support the group.
“Excuse me? Mr. Everlock?” A girl Mitch didn’t recognize had walked into the classroom via the back lab entrance behind him. He hadn’t heard her approach and it rattled him.
Where was his training?
“Hi. I’m Nika Collins.” The girl held out her hand to Rachel. “I’m new, my family just transferred.”
Mitch’s instincts went on alert. A midyear transfer? In senior year? This had to be the undercover officer Claudia had mentioned.
“Hi.” Rachel gave her a little wave and started talking to her. Mitch used the moment to check out the new “student.”
“I’ve already completed my credits to graduate but since we moved here before the end of the year the district wants me to attend class until graduation. We moved from Iowa.”
She was good, really good. With no makeup and flawless skin, her face easily passed for a teenager’s. Her clothes were adolescent typical, too, from her form-hugging polo shirt to her low-slung skinny jeans and Sherpa-lined suede boots. But those biceps and the overall athletic build that accentuated her feminine curves, her most definitely adult woman curves, confirmed his suspicion. As a civilian teacher, he wasn’t supposed to know about it; Claudia had informed him as a Trail Hiker. He had to play dumb, but he also had to be prepared in case the True Believers started to pull their crap again. Principal Essis had been notified, too, and he knew that many of the faculty would expect nothing less with such serious threats.
Claudia wouldn’t have had to tell him this gal was undercover, though. The new “student’s” appearance, along with his gut instinct, which was rarely wrong, clued him in. He had to give the undercover operative kudos—the kids wouldn’t think twice of her except as a new classmate.
He hoped like hell his instinct wasn’t letting him down now, because this woman was hotter than hell and he hadn’t ever glanced at one of his students and felt a physical attraction before.
“Mr. Everlock, Nika’s going to come to our Rainbows meeting this afternoon.” Rachel’s voice brought Mitch back to the classroom.
“Glad to have you, Nika.”
“Sure thing.”
Rachel checked her phone. “I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late for French. Madame Kramer is doing a big finals review today. I’ll see you later, Nika.”
“See you.” Nika wiggled her fingers just as Rachel had done, looking every bit the new, slightly awkward student who wanted to fit in.
Once they were alone in the classroom, he waited for her to speak. He had to. To make sure.
“I think you know who I am, Mr. Everlock.”
“Do I?”
She looked carefully around the classroom before she held out her hand. “Nika Pasczenko, SVPD.”
*
Mitch Everlock was going to get his due. It was only a matter of time. They were still holding the Rainbows meetings.
As he watched the students head to their next classes from his spot in the school parking lot, some leaving early, some skipping, his blood boiled. He’d been warned that it might not be so easy to sway Mitch Everlock. What the stupid teacher didn’t realize was that the messages telling him to end the Rainbows weren’t a joke. This was about the truth, what was best and right and true for everyone in Silver Valley. Whether they wanted to believe it or not.
No officals had been out to the farms to test the blood, not yet. He knew they were slow, but it was taking them a long time. He fully understood, though, that the SVPD would eventually show up asking for samples of their most recent slaughter.
He
was already ahead of them. The blood he’d used was from last year. He’d frozen it after he’d met Mr. Wise at the New Thought meetings, just in case he’d be able to use it for a future escapade. And he had.
“Do you have time to talk to the folks from Agriculture today?” His assistant’s voice came over the car’s hands-free speaker. He hated distractions but had to pay his bills for the time being.
“Of course. Anytime. Let me know what works for them.”
“Will do.”
The government oversight was constant. The state and federal governments didn’t trust him to run his own damn farms any longer. Before long, it wouldn’t matter.
When he’d found out about the Rainbows at his very own dinner table he knew that his support of the New Thought planned community hadn’t been in vain. All of the meetings he had attended were going to pay off. He missed the meetings but trusted Leonard Wise. It was better for him to study at home now, while he helped Mr. Wise prepare Silver Valley for what was coming.
Leonard Wise was always right. He was a brilliant man who had come to save Silver Valley. It all made sense. Silver Valley High School was a nest of lies, the way the innocent children of their community were being indoctrinated into society’s evil ways. The Rainbows club’s existence only cemented it.
He’d done what he had to: sent adequate warning that the likes of their sick morals wouldn’t be tolerated. That stupid chemistry teacher thought he was so smart, so savvy, helping the kids get into faraway colleges where their sinful lives could be lived out without their parents watching over them. And there was another problem. Most of the parents in Silver Valley were just as stupid and blind as their children.
But he saw what was happening. Leonard Wise and his brave teachings had enlightened him, given him a reason, a purpose. He was going to bring down the Rainbows and all the students in the group. Mr. Wise would be so pleased, because it would help bring more members to their effort. Once the Rainbows were gone, and the school wasn’t able to function, the parents would be forced to see that their children were running wild. That they needed discipline. That their girls needed to be dedicated to New Thought and to bring new members into the fold in the best, most pure way. Through perfect births.
But first he had to take out the man at the center of the Rainbows. The idiot teacher who was poisoning the children with the same sick lies that were plastered across all the newspapers and internet.
Mr. Mitch Everlock.
Chapter 2
“Isn’t it risky to talk here?” Mitch Everlock placed a hand on the dark counter at the front of the classroom. “And you didn’t have to tell me who you are, Nika. I knew the minute you walked in.”
Nika wondered if he’d felt the same zing of attraction she had. His eyes were a deep holly green, sparkling like her favorite emerald earrings. Nika had left them on her dresser this morning as she’d prepared to come into Silver Valley High undercover. Her relief at Rachel’s acceptance of her as a student was derailed by the disapproving expression on Mitch Everlock’s face.
“You saw me check out the classroom for any students. I’m not here to play games, Mr. Everlock. As far as anyone is concerned, we’re just a student and teacher, right?” She shrugged, hoping the move she’d practiced looked like a typical adolescent gesture. He wasn’t what she’d expected and he made her nervous. The dowdy chemistry teacher she’d imagined was instead a hot stud. The kind of man she’d normally love to have a night or two with. Before she let him go. Because she always let them go.
“How old are you, Nika?”
“Let’s just say I graduated college while most of my ‘classmates’ were still in middle school. These kids were being born when I went through this same school at their age.” She made air quotation marks.
“Huh.” He stood back from the counter and stretched, affording her a nice view of his broad chest and lean hips. He started arranging beakers and scales on the laboratory surface, ignoring her. He didn’t fool her—his movements were meant to distract her, throw her off her game. “Why weren’t you at the station when I filed my report three days ago? I would have remembered you.” His voice was like a sexy caress and she hated herself for the clichéd comparison, damn it.
“Three days ago? I was on a domestic call. I didn’t know I’d be working the Rainbow Hater case with you until last night.” She hadn’t asked to be assigned to babysit a teacher who couldn’t keep control of enough of his classroom and students to already have cornered whoever had left the threats. But no one had asked for her opinion.
“Whoa, Nika. We’re not ‘working’ on anything together, not officially. I’m a Marine vet, no longer working any kind of cases or missions. I’m simply a chemistry teacher. If you have orders to be here, okay, but I’m fine on my own. I can handle whoever this idiot is. You called him the Rainbow Hater?”
“Yes.”
He was not going to make this any easier and Nika was tired of working with egos. She’d survived the ugliest breakup of her life last year and, in retrospect, saw that her ex had been egocentric. Sometimes she wished she could break up with people she worked with. Like this Everlock dude. For once couldn’t someone she had to deal with be reasonable, the yin to her yang? His tone made her want to scream. Instead she remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
“That’s fitting, because whoever it is has a lot of hate issues for the Rainbows. And while I appreciate you’ve been sent here to do your job, you have to understand that I’m the one who knows these kids. I’ll figure out who it is.”
“Are you really fine on your own? The messages have gotten more personal, aimed at you. If the kook who left the most recent message decides to come in here with a weapon, you think you can handle it? Keep all your students safe?”
“You bet your...bottom dollar I can, Nika. I don’t believe it’ll come to that, though. Do you, really?” As he asked she saw him check her out again. His gaze lingered on her breasts before he made an assessing sweep, pausing as he looked at her lower legs. Did he think she had a weapon holstered to her calf? She gripped her designer bag, courtesy of the local thrift shop frequented by teens, tightly over her shoulder, ready to retrieve her pistol if need be.
“I try to never underestimate a criminal, Mr. Everlock.”
“Stop thinking I’m your enemy. As long as I’m in the classroom, my students are safe.” His confidence didn’t come across as boastful but matter-of-fact.
She forced her fingers to relax from the leather bag’s handle, rested her hip on a student desk. Her face was hot and she damned her pale skin, which she knew had to be obviously red. “I don’t think that at all. You were right. We should save our talk for later, either after hours or at the station.”
“So Nika is your real name?” His eyes were closer to jade than emerald, she decided.
“Of course. It’s much easier to keep up the ruse with my real first name. ‘Collins’ is not my surname, though. Fortunately most of the students I’ve met haven’t asked for my last name.”
“They’re too busy studying for semester finals, dreaming about the holiday break and figuring out who to take to the Silver Bells Ball in a few weeks. At least, this crowd is. My other classes are mostly doing well, but the last class of the day, the General Science group, is struggling. I’m lucky if I get half the class to even attend.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Just so you know, I’ll be coming in and out of your different classes if that’s okay.”
“How are you going to explain that to the students? Won’t they expect you to attend a variety of subjects, just like they do?”
She shook her head. “I’m telling them what you heard here. I’m a transfer who only needs to clock classroom time for the state of Pennsylvania so that I can get my degree by May. Which class I do it in doesn’t matter. And since I’ve received several scholarship offers, and want to major in chemistry, it makes perfect sense that I want to spend my time here.”
“I don’t suppose you ever
took chemistry?”
“In high school, and one semester in college. I wasn’t a big fan of it, though. I do know my way around a meth lab, unfortunately.” If her chemistry teacher had looked as good as Mitch Everlock she might have considered becoming a pharmacist. Not that she’d tell him that.
“Is there anything we need to go over? Do you have any questions about what I’ve been dealing with?”
“That’s best left for outside class hours, don’t you think? Is there any way you can meet me at SVPD headquarters after school today?”
“I was going to head over there now to file my final report about this last threat, but I suppose I can kill two birds with one visit later. What time?”
His dark hair and brows were the perfect contrast to his eyes and she was intrigued by the lines that fanned out across his forehead, his deep smile lines, the sexy cleft in his chin.
“Um, five okay with you?”
She’d never been the kind of student who was hot for her teachers, but Mitch Everlock might be her first illicit crush. Not that she’d do anything about it. Not yet, anyway.
“Is there something on my face, Nika?” His voice was stern but there was a glint of humor in his eyes.
“No, of course not. I was admiring your tie.” She nodded at the pattern of dancing laboratory Santas holding beakers and test tubes.
He grinned and opened his mouth to reply but the words she leaned in to hear were cut off by a loud crash and then a thump on the classroom floor.
“Down!” he shouted. She went to grab him but his reflexes were quicker and she found herself facedown on the linoleum floor, the weight of an extremely fit man on top of her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a large rock with a piece of paper wrapped around it. The silence was broken only by two distinct plinks of broken glass as they dislodged from the window frame and fell to the floor. The student desk she’d been leaning on had toppled over, covering her legs.
