Geri Krotow - Her Secret Christmas Agent

The girls from the class stared at her, waiting for her to dish.

“First off, where I went to school before wasn’t as competitive as here. We didn’t have IB classes, and Mr. Everlock’s letting me get caught up to where you are from last year. Besides.” She did the shrug she’d practiced countless times for a moment just like this. “I, um, get lonely. I’m not a gamer and I’m not much into TV. Plus, my parents would kill me if I didn’t come to school. They think there’s always more to learn.” Nika rolled her eyes and the girls laughed. Phew!

“They’re right. There always is more.” Ted, a tall, gangly boy with oily skin, pushed his glasses up his impossibly long nose. “They say that once we’re in college we’re going to realize how stupid we are.” Nika watched the young man as he sat straighter and a slight blush ran up his neck and cheeks. “I think you’re smart to keep coming to school.”

“Dude, can you be any more obvious?” Donald Mather, the only student in the class who knew where he was going to college already thanks to early decision, slapped Ted on the back. He leaned in toward Nika. “What Ted’s trying to say is that he wants to take you to the Silver Bells Ball. You know, he wants to ring your bell.” The boys hooted and hollered while the girls at the table groaned. Ted turned several shades of coral.

Shit. She hadn’t thought about the ramifications of looking the part of a student so well.

“This is kind of embarrassing, but where I was before, in Iowa, I went to all of our dances with a group of friends. My parents won’t let me single date yet. They’re old-fashioned.” Geez, she wanted to roll her eyes again, but at herself. As if being a teenager once in a lifetime wasn’t enough, she felt confused and unsure of her next step, just like she had ten years ago when she’d really been a senior. “Why don’t we all go as a group? I mean, unless you all already have dates. Or is that how they do it here? Everyone has to have a date?”

Their response was immediate and positive. The girls blushed with excitement and the guys looked like they wanted to cheer at the suggestion.

“We’d rather go as a group. It’s too intense when everyone pairs up. And this way we don’t have to go matchy-matchy.” Gabi spoke up. “It’s such a pain in the ass to find the right color cummerbund to match a dress. Besides, we all wear black, right?”

“Yeah, who wants to get matching flowers?” Nika hoped she sounded logical.

“But we can still have wrist corsages and boutonnieres, right?” Rachel spoke quietly. “I like flowers.”

Nika cleared her throat. “There’s a great florist over on Main Street.” The conversation stopped and the table grew very, very quiet as all eyes went to Nika.

Oh, boy.

She shrugged again, hoping she wasn’t overplaying her signature teenager move. “My mother had to order flowers for a friend and we went into this shop. It’s cool, kind of retro.” Nika made a mental note to tell Rio to let his girlfriend and town florist, Kayla, know that Nika was the one responsible for an influx of last-minute dance orders.

At least she’d managed to get out of taking an underage boy to the dance. That’s all she needed to report back to Bryce and Chief Todd.

Which brought her back to the legal but most inappropriate candidate for a relationship. The man she couldn’t stop thinking about.

Mitch Everlock.

* * *

The following Monday, Nika decided to touch base with Mitch. They weren’t officially working this case together as he wasn’t in law enforcement. But she wanted him to know that she hadn’t discounted him as a valuable resource in solving the case. It would take everyone they had to bring the Rainbow Hater down, especially if he turned out to be linked to the cult.

“That smells wonderful.” Nika sniffed the delectable aroma of Mitch’s coffee as she spoke with him in his small office in an annex off the lab. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m stopping by. It’s important to me that we connect.”

“I don’t disagree with that. And you’re welcome to some.” His eyes sparkled with interest as he nodded at the coffee. “I don’t picture you as the black-coffee type.”

“I am, but I do enjoy some real cream in it, too. I’d better not. I doubt a lot of students drink it that way. All I’ve seen them drink are very fancy, expensive lattes and other sugar concoctions.”

“You’re right, although I’ve had an odd one here or there who joined me in a mug of black. Go ahead, have some. We have a good half hour before any students show up.” He leaned back in his chair and Nika absorbed the sight. Button-down shirt, khaki slacks and upscale comfortable shoes. She helped herself as directed.

“Thanks for not kicking me out of here this morning. I do need some extra help with my homework.” They’d agreed that their “cover” whenever they had to get together to discuss the case would be that Nika needed some extra assignments, and perhaps some guidance as to where she should apply for college since she wanted to stay in Pennsylvania.

“What’s up?”

“First, I want to apologize for assuming you didn’t know what you were doing when the rock came through the window. You obviously have extensive training for dangerous situations.”

“I do. But so do you, Nika. You would have been fine if I hadn’t been around.”

“But you were there, and you saved me from what could have been several nasty cuts or bruises.” Maybe even a concussion.

“Apology accepted.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Nika, I owe you an apology, too. I assumed you weren’t going to be able to pull this off. To me, you look like a grown woman, in the best way. But the students seem to have taken to you. They accept you as one of them.”

“Have any of them said anything to you?” Her gut tightened. From concern over how well her undercover disguise was working, not any reaction to Mitch’s compliment. She had to succeed at this op.

“Only Rachel.” He lowered his voice. “She hasn’t come in to see me outside of class since she started behaving differently. But she stopped by after class last week and said she’s not sure having you in class is a good idea.”

“Did she say why?”

“Only something vague about letting in new students who didn’t even need the class. Said her mother had the concern, not her. But since then, I’ve noticed she’s spending more time with you in and after class. Is this true?”

Nika nodded. “Have you met her parents?”

“Yes, last year at open house, but I barely remember them. Since Rachel’s always been a good student, there was no need to see them since. They didn’t come in this year, though.” He looked thoughtful.

“What are you thinking, Mitch?”

“I could be way off, but I’ve had students here and there who are from very strict families, who aren’t allowed to be real teenagers. I worry most about them, actually. Because no matter how well they do academically, there are certain rites of passage that need to happen in high school to help the kids go on to survive in college, or wherever they go next.”

“And you think Rachel’s from one of these families?”

“Hard to tell. She has older siblings, but they’re in college or living away. It’s just her and her parents, as far as I know.”

“Do you have any reason to think she’s in danger?”

“No, but if her family’s fallen in with that crazy cult, it would explain her sudden lack of enthusiasm about schoolwork and extracurriculars. She used to be a more active part of the Rainbows but hasn’t participated much since the end of last semester, last spring.”

“What cult are you talking about?” Nika thought that while the general public might know a bit about the former True Believers Cult members showing up in Silver Valley, the SVPD was working closely with the media to make sure the most important details of the case against the True Believers were kept out of the spotlight.