by Geri Krotow
“Getting the bad guy is always worth it, yes.”
He had a pained expression on his face but again she didn’t feel she knew him well enough to push it. But she wanted to. She wanted to know more about Mitch than she had any business to.
“Hey, Mr. Everlock!” Neel faltered when he spotted Nika sitting in the office, his bright red sweatshirt emblazoned with the face of a red-nosed reindeer.
“Good morning, Neel. What can I do you for?”
Nika smiled at Neel. “Um, we’re done here, Neel. Mr. Everlock just gave me a list of universities a mile long. I had no idea there were so many places I could major in chemistry just in Pennsylvania! See you in class.” She bolted for the door. And prayed that it was what any other high school student would do, and that her being in Mitch’s office so early wouldn’t draw attention to her.
Chapter 5
The next several days were like any other school day, save for Nika trying to comprehend all that had changed since she’d wandered these same halls over a decade ago. Gone were the blatant Christmas decorations, replaced by generic wintery lights and garland. One hallway of the large school had tables and bulletin boards dedicated to the several different holidays celebrated by students this time of year, including Hanukkah, Kwanza and Christmas. What hadn’t changed was the fun air of expectation—a long school break was near, and the big dance would put an exclamation point on the anticipation.
When the bell rang after each class, Nika did her best to look like all of the other kids fighting to get to their lockers, change out books and report in to their next class. All in four minutes. With a high school as large as SVHS she wondered how any of the students ever made it to class on time. How had she done it?
Since she was only interested in Mitch’s class for the case, and the other kids thought she was doing special assignments for Mitch, she was spared the genuine worry of making it to class on time. It would have been a nightmare, because if she were late she’d bring attention to herself. Every extra bit of attention was a risk at being discovered.
Each time a kid or teacher looked at her funny, she worried they were going to shout out, “Hey, aren’t you a cop?” or “Didn’t you give me a parking ticket last month?”
Her second Thursday at Silver Valley High she was on her way to Mitch’s classroom when she realized she needed to use the restroom. She ducked into the nearest bathroom and smacked into a woman dressed in yoga pants, a polo shirt with the school’s mascot emblazoned above her left breast, and a referee whistle.
Kristine Rattner, one of the high school’s four physical education teachers. Kristine had graduated with Nika. Please don’t let her recognize me. Kristine had been the girl Nika had wished she could be back in school. A cheerleader, her classmate had always been perfectly made-up, and a cute-boy magnet.
“Excuse me, young lady. Don’t be late for class.” The leggy blonde crossed her arms in front of her and Nika looked away. Crap. This was too close for comfort.
Recognize her? She’d never even noticed her all those years ago.
“No, ma’am. I have a pass.” She held up the pass she’d obtained from the principal when she’d started to prepare to go undercover. Other than Mitch, Principal Essis was the only person in SVHS who knew Nika was an SVPD officer.
“What grade are you in?”
“I’m a new transfer senior.”
“I thought so. I don’t recognize you. I’ve had all of the senior class at least once since they were freshmen. Where are you from?”
“My family just moved here from Iowa.”
“Huh. You look familiar. Do you have cousins who went here?” Kristine stared at her and Nika did her best impression of a distracted teen, refusing to meet her eyes.
“No.” She made a show of shaking her leg. “I have to go really bad.”
“Very well.”
Nika locked herself in a stall, grateful for the small but significant barrier.
Apparently she’d done a good job of reassimilating into a teenaged population. Maybe too good. Did Mitch think she looked like the mousy teen she’d been?
Get over it.
The bathroom was empty as she washed her hands and checked the makeup she’d carefully applied this morning. No, there was no reason Kristine would remember her from ten years ago. She’d never worn makeup as a student, and she’d been much meeker around teachers back in the day.
Heading back into the hall she hoped this last class period would go more quickly than the last seven. Being a high school student again was exhausting.
*
“You really like the Rainbows, huh?” Nika hoped she kept her expression as neutral as possible. Rachel was the smartest kid in the senior class, according to Mitch. Which made Nika all the more determined to get to the source of Rachel’s misery and discontent.
“Yeah.” Rachel didn’t bat an eye as they sat across from one another in the back corner of Mitch’s classroom, where he’d set up a sofa and two easy chairs. She’d noticed that during the chemistry classes he allowed some of the students to sit here if they preferred, as long as they continued to actively participate in class. It made a great place for students to hang out after school.
The last bell had rung and other Rainbows members were straggling into the room, many of them with heavy backpacks.
Mitch had told her that while not all of the Rainbows identified as LGBT, many of the members were interested in showing support for their friends or family members who were. So she figured she could join the club without it raising any suspicion. So far no one had questioned her about her attendance at the meetings.
“Hey, everyone. Shane and Erika should be here shortly—they have the funds to get pizza and sodas from the cafeteria. Jon, do you want to go ahead and open the meeting for us?”
“Sure, Mr. Everlock.” Jon, a tall boy with a crew cut and Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt slid into a desk positioned to face the group of approximately twenty-two kids. Nika had counted. She figured in a school of almost two thousand kids, this was a good turnout.
“Last month we voted to use our treasury to host a welcome party for any transfer students in January. We have a month left to plan but first we have a new item that we need to take care of. As you know, all the Silver Valley clubs and sports teams are eligible to host a table at the Silver Bells Ball, to help raise money for charity. Like last year, the school has voted to raise money for the US Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign. It’s a good cause. But we have to raise the money to pay for the table rental. Does anyone have any ideas on how we can raise this money, and is anyone willing to be on the committee for it? Any volunteers?” Jon spoke like he’d been leading groups his whole life. Nika didn’t think she’d ever been so together in high school.
“I’ll take care of the decorations.” A girl with hair dyed black with purple tips raised her hand.
“Okay, thanks Trish, that’s great. But first we need to know what we’ll sell, and when. Anyone else?”
“I can pick up supplies. I need someone to give me a list, though.” The boy who hardly spoke in chemistry class smiled.
Nika watched as students who’d shuffled into the room perked up as the hour went by and they planned for the Silver Bells Ball. Mitch stayed in the background, sitting on a stool at the lab counter. He had his shirtsleeves rolled up, exposing well-defined forearms. She forced herself to look away, only to meet Rachel’s astute gaze.
“Do you have a thing for Mr. Everlock?” Rachel’s query sounded more like an accusation and alarm bells jangled in Nika’s mind.
“No, of course not. That’s just wrong.” She affected the disgusted posture she’d practiced.
“Then stop staring at him.” Rachel’s voice was quiet so the rest of the group wouldn’t hear her, but it had a steely tone Nika hadn’t noticed before.
“What’s wrong, Rachel?”
The girl stared at Nika, her eyes flat and disconnected. A chill went down Nika’s spine. Had Rachel been tested
for mental illness?
“Nothing you’d understand.”
“Try me.”
They proved to be the smartest two words Nika had used so far in her stint as a teenager.
“I used to be nicer, you know. I was involved in more things, and I looked forward to school every day.”
“And now?”
“Now all I do is dread when I have to go back home and deal with my dipshit mother again.” Rachel sucked water out of her refillable sports bottle. “She’s lost her mind. Church was always important to her, but since she started doing these book studies with the New Thoughts she’s been like a crazy woman.” Rachel made air quotes around New Thoughts. “Yesterday she actually told me that she believes if we don’t listen to some old guy she met, we’re all going to end up in hell. She’s fixated on doing whatever he says, reading whatever he tells her to.”
“What about your dad?”
“He left us, and town, months ago. I have an older sister and brother, too, but they’ve left home. Everyone thinks I’m having a great time, being spoiled by my mother.”
“And you’re not.”
“Not at all. She’s changed too much for that.”
“Why don’t you two ladies pay attention and help us out? Want to share what you’re talking about?” Mitch spoke up from his seat and Nika wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. Of course, he had no idea that Rachel had all but given Nika what she’d been looking for.
A connection to the True Believers and the hate crimes against the Rainbows.
*
Mitch could only ignore Rachel and Nika’s low murmurs for so long. He had to play along and treat Nika as any other student. They couldn’t risk blowing her cover under any circumstances. Nika’s angry eyes looked like the flame when germanium was burned. The palest blue, but bright enough to resemble the silver-white heat from aluminum’s flame. He’d prefer to see her eyes lit with heat that he caused, but right now her glare was glacial.
“We were figuring out when to meet to make cookies for the newcomer event.” Rachel saved them both. Interesting.
“In my old school we did bake sales all the time to fund-raise. Can we do it here at SVHS? To raise money for the table rental at the Silver Bells Ball?” Nika smiled, her student persona perfected.
“You only have a week to do it. What do you say, everybody?” While Mitch was the teacher representative for the club, he didn’t run it. That was up to the kids.
“The other clubs hold all kinds of fund-raisers. Anybody got a better idea?” Jon took the reins back.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Good idea.”
“I’ll go to Costco and bring in some muffins to sell. You know, those huge, ginormous chocolate ones?”
“We can sell as soon as we get permission from the school administration, in the lobby during lunch, and before school.” So many club members spoke at once that Jon had to tell them to repeat their statements for the group secretary, whose fingers were flying over her tablet computer’s portable keyboard.
The club went on to decide the details for the bake sales and then, thinking optimistically, what they’d want to give away at the dance with any extra money earned. Mitch avoided staring at Nika, but just barely. She was sending off vibes she had to be aware of, even if the kids didn’t notice. Didn’t she realize how hot she was in that tight T-shirt and those smokin’ leggings? She’d obviously checked out the school dress code, because nothing was outside of the fairly strict rules. But, like any other teen girl, she was playing very close to the lines. As if she wasn’t aware of the power of her sexuality yet.
But Nika knew damned well the effect she could have. So did Mitch’s dick.
As soon as the group cleared, he watched Nika walk out with Rachel and felt a pang of disappointment.
It’s a case, jarhead. Let her do her job.
He hadn’t been this hot for a woman since...since he couldn’t even remember when.
*
Nika dialed Bryce’s number as she prepared to head to Rachel’s house after school.
“I’m going over to her house in ten minutes.” Nika spoke to Bryce from her mother’s car.
“Be careful. Are you sure she’s not on to you?”
“Not at all. At least, I don’t think so. We’re going to bake cookies for the Rainbows bake sale, to raise money for the Silver Bells Ball. She says her mother’s into cooking and baking, and they have lots of ingredients on hand.”
“Won’t her mother take issue with you baking cookies for the club that supports LGBT kids?”
“No, Rachel supposedly told her that it was for the school dance and Toys for Tots, never saying anything about the Rainbows.”
“Okay, well, check back as soon as you leave her house.”
“Will do.”
She put the small SUV into gear and drove. As she made her way through Silver Valley toward its outskirts she thought about how surprised Mitch had looked when she’d glared at him. That was too funny. Of course, she’d almost blown it by laughing at him. That would have made it harder for their cover story that she was interested in a career in chemistry and Mitch was her mentor of sorts.
In reality she’d never allow a man like Mitch be a mentor, or more, to her. Her inherent mistrust of military men, from her parents’ lifelong issues with military authority, was one reason. The other reason was that she’d learned early in her career to not get involved during a case. Those relationships often ended once the fuel of the threat of danger was depleted. And made future work together incredibly uncomfortable.
There’s more. You don’t trust him.
She couldn’t trust him, not yet. She didn’t know him well enough to gauge his trustworthiness. He was honorable and had proved it by protecting her from the thrown rock. But the way he and Bryce had conversed, she’d felt shut out. Exactly how her parents described living in Soviet times. As if there was a big secret and she wasn’t part of it. It only added to her deeply imbedded mistrust of men in positions of power, and how easy it was to cut women out of important decision making, intentional or not. And, in all truth, it reminded her of how deeply she’d fallen for Ron, believing he’d accept her career as something she needed and wanted, not something she’d throw away once they were married.
Mitch’s job as a teacher didn’t intimidate her, but his past left her feeling less certain. He’d been a US Marine during wartime. Special Forces. That was heavy duty. There was more to Mitch than met the eye, and Nika had enough work keeping herself on track and happy. Adding a man to the equation, especially one as complex as Mitch, was overwhelming.
Nika was sick of the men she hooked up with being threatened by her job. For once she wanted a relationship with someone who wouldn’t compete with her. She wanted a man who wouldn’t require huge amounts of work and energy when she was at the end of a long shift. Was that too selfish?
“In eight hundred feet, turn left.” Her GPS jolted her back to reality and she looked for the name of the road Rachel had given her.
Turning onto the blacktopped street, she was dismayed when it turned into a gravel road. At least it hadn’t snowed, so her mother’s practical SUV traversed it okay. She pulled up at the end of the “street,” where a modern-looking ranch house with a steep roof and round attic windows perched on a slight ridge.
It looked menacing in the fading December light. No porch or indoor lights appeared to be on, but it was definitely the address Rachel had given her. Single electric candles were visible in each front window, a typical decoration in many homes in central Pennsylvania. The window candles were a sign of welcome, a holdover from a century ago when Pennsylvania Dutch culture had thrived in the area. But, like the rest of the lights surrounding the property, they weren’t lit, either.
“So much for Pennsylvania Dutch hospitality,” she muttered to herself as she got out and slammed the car’s door. She almost jumped when she saw the lace curtain of the far right window move to the side a few inches. She co
uldn’t make out a person but she knew she was being watched.
Nika walked up the middle path to the front door and before she rang the bell the door popped open.
“You found it. Welcome to purgatory.” Rachel stood in stockinged feet as she deadpanned her quiet greeting.
“Yeah, the drive up here was a little crazy, especially in my mom’s car.” Staying as close to the truth as possible in her story kept being undercover much simpler.
Rachel craned her neck to see the vehicle. “You don’t have your own?”
Nika shook her head. “With the move from Iowa and all, it was too expensive to get a car, especially since we don’t know for sure where I’m going to college. If I go to Temple or Drexel, I won’t need a car, you know? In Philadelphia?” She hated speaking in questions but it was how the kids did it.
“Rachel, who’s at the door?” A woman’s voice called out from the darkness behind Rachel.
“Just a friend, Mom.” Rachel turned back to Nika. “Come on in, and remember, my mother is bat-shit cray-cray.”
Nika entered a polished wood-floored hallway and immediately sensed the lack of warmth. It felt colder than outside. “Is your heater on?”
Rachel shook her head. “We haven’t used it since Mom decided we should only use our woodstove. She hasn’t ordered the cord of wood we need for the winter yet. She says I should be out collecting twigs to make sure we can always get a fire going in the woodstove. It’s all her nutso-survivalist crap.” She lowered her voice to a whisper as she motioned for Nika to follow her into the kitchen.
“Hello.” A tall, skinny woman sat at a round table in a nook in the far corner, her eyes huge and bug-like behind rimless glasses.
