by Geri Krotow
“Going somewhere, girls?”
Nika spun around and faced a man she hadn’t seen before. Rachel turned with her and moved close to Nika’s side.
“We’re going home.” Nika spoke without rancor.
“Why do you want to go home?” He took a step closer. “I know it can be overwhelming inside with all of the family together. But no one bites. I wanted to leave when I first came, too. I’m so glad I stayed when I did.”
Nika stared at the man and heard the snap of twigs on either side of her and Rachel. She looked in the darkness for other men and made out two tall shapes. “We’ll come back another time.”
“It’s so cold out here. You don’t want to catch a chill. Abigail Landry’s baked her apple crisp—nothing better to warm you up on a night like this. Let’s go back in and get you both warm.”
“Oooh, no, I need my mother!” Rachel bent over and clutched her stomach. “Please, get my mother, Belinda.”
“What’s wrong?” This voice was from Nika’s right side and had the same singsong tone as the man who’d first spoken.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Nika whispered at Rachel.
“Oooh, I’m having horrible cramps. I need my mother!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get her for you.” The leader of the three nodded and Nika made out a man running toward the building. Bright light lit the dark around the structure as his knock on the door was rewarded by one of the inside guards opening it. A murmur of voices, followed by a shout.
“Bring her back here, we’ll take care of her.”
“Oooh, I’m bleeding all over. I got my peeeeriod!” Rachel moaned and the man on the left ran to the building. It was only Nika, Rachel and the man who’d done the talking. Rachel gripped Nika’s arm. “Follow me.”
They took off, easily evading the remaining guard, and when they were clear of the building they kept running through the streets of the trailer park. So many of the trailers that had been empty only six months ago were lit up from inside, but Nika knew no one was home—they were all at the New Thought meeting.
“Where are we going?” Nika wasn’t going to let Rachel take them to one of these trailers to hide out. They’d be sitting ducks.
Rachel barely spared her a glance as she continued along the graveled road. “Out of this freaking park. We could hide in some of the trailers—they used some of them as smaller meeting rooms. But it’s not worth the risk of having to deal with any of them again.” Rachel’s voice gave little indication they’d just escaped the clutches of a very powerful cult. She stopped for a second and looked at Nika. “Are you okay?”
Nika laughed. “I’m great. Lead on.” They ran into the night, reaching the trailer park entrance in less than five minutes, and continued onto the main highway that would take them back into Silver Valley proper.
*
Mitch wanted to take out the three men who’d threatened Nika and Rachel. It would have been so easy, too easy from his concealed location in the bushes. He gave Rachel kudos for coming up with the period cramps excuse. Nothing could make weak men scatter more quickly than the mention of a menstrual cycle.
Since he was well hidden in the woods he used his position to take several photos of the area and the men who stood around as if expecting the girls to come back of their own volition. He was about to hike out and back to his vehicle when he heard a sound of movement. Silently, and in step, adults began to exit the building, coming out into the same clearing Nika and Rachel had escaped. Mitch videoed with his phone as the people started to sing a song he recognized as a Bible hymn but with different lyrics.
“We are home, we are home. You have found your home, it is here. You will come back always to here. For this is home, this is home.”
Mitch didn’t wait to see what else they were going to do. SVPD was on it; if the cult did anything criminal tonight, they’d take care of it. At this point he’d accomplished what SVPD needed from him as an extra lookout. As a Trail Hiker he wasn’t officially here. More important, he wanted to get out onto the main road and help Nika and Rachel. They had an awfully long walk back to Rachel’s home and Nika’s vehicle. He needed to know they were safe. At this point he didn’t think Nika would be offended if he offered them a lift.
Chapter 16
As they trudged along the main road from the trailer park into downtown Silver Valley, Nika made sure she and Rachel kept to the farthest part of the shoulder so that they’d be invisible to most vehicles. She’d expected the cult to come after them and said as much to Rachel.
“Oh, no, that’s not their way. They want you to believe that it’s your choice that you stayed. It’s a sick game, let me tell you. Didn’t you see how they got so close to us but never touched us? They want to be able to blame us for not doing what’s right, not make it look like they forced us.”
Nika stayed silent as her knowledge of the cult was far beyond what a teenager’s would be and she couldn’t risk exposing her undercover role. Yet she felt a sense of pride in how Rachel had behaved. “You know how to deal with these losers, don’t you?”
Rachel grinned. “I have to. The bastards want my mother to move in to that trailer park. Can you imagine living there for the rest of senior year? I know you’re new here, but trust me, I’d never be able to do anything with school again. They’d suck me in to their twisted life and take away my mother’s car. Once that happens I’m screwed.”
“Can’t you call your father, Rachel? No matter what a jerk he is for leaving you with her, he has to be better than this cult shit.”
“My father is dead to me. He left us when we needed him most.”
“That’s fair.” Bright lights came upon them and Nika halted. “Quick, against the guardrail. We don’t know who this is.”
The car slowed and only after it came up alongside them did Nika let out her relief in a burst of frosty breath.
Mitch.
The driver’s window slid down, revealing a familiar form.
“Hey, is that Mr. Everlock?” Rachel asked from behind the guardrail where they’d hid.
“You two sure don’t look like deer. You ladies need a ride?” Mitch’s teeth flashed white under the single streetlight he’d pulled up next to.
Nika looked at Rachel. “You okay with it?”
“Are you kidding? A warm car? Let’s go!”
“Hop in, girls.” Mitch’s voice rushed over Nika, reminding her of how husky it’d sounded when they’d made love in her kitchen.
Definitely not a high school student’s thoughts.
She and Rachel scrambled into the backseat of his pickup, the plush interior and leather upholstery incongruous with what she’d normally think of as a hunting vehicle. She hoped Rachel didn’t notice.
By the way Rachel shivered in her seat, she was busy trying to get warm.
*
“I’ve been deer spotting as my brothers and I are supposed to go hunting tomorrow. It’s my turn to spot and find where we’ll set up our deer blinds.”
Mitch focused on the road, his profile dark and only emphasized by his dark outdoor clothing. Nika knew he’d been doing more than deer spotting but said nothing.
“I’m so glad you saw us, Mr. Everlock. It would have been a long walk for us.” Rachel’s teeth had stopped chattering and she was unusually talkative.
“Are you two okay? What the heck were you thinking, walking this road in this weather without your coats?” Mitch’s query was for Rachel’s benefit, Nika knew.
“My mother’s wrapped up with a group of weirdos. They meet on the weekends and I dragged Nika along with me to see how nuts it is.”
“Are you safe, Rachel?” In the darkness of the car Nika stayed silent, marveling over how even though Mitch was a trained Trail Hiker his teacher instinct was stronger.
Rachel shifted in the seat beside Nika. “Yeah, as long as my mother stays in our house.”
“Has anyone threatened you?”
“Not that way.” Rachel looked out her si
de window and clammed up.
“Rachel just saved both of us from some really creepy dudes, Mr. Everlock. We were at this community meeting of weirdos and they wanted us to step forward and say we believed their bull—”
“What happened?” Nika was impressed how curious Mitch sounded as “Mr. Everlock.”
“It’s the crazy cult group. My mother believes their crap and Nika agreed to go with me, to make it easier for me. Nika and I decided we wanted to leave but some of the guys gave us a hard time.”
“Guys?”
“Yeah, they always have some of the men act like they’re bodyguards and keep people in their seats while the leader jackass is speaking.” Rachel became more animated as she warmed up. “I went once or twice before with my mother and it’s like torture. You have to sit in these uncomfortable seats for hours and listen to the most bizarre stories that make absolutely no sense. There weren’t many other kids our age there tonight but sometimes the parents drag their kids and they try to convince them it’ll be a lot of fun to join. When I was there the last time they said that any kid who signed up would get a year’s pass to Insanity.” Rachel mentioned the local amusement park where the teenagers like to hang out. “That’s rich, isn’t it? I mean, they meant the amusement park but being involved with New Thought is a sure ticket to insanity.” Rachel giggled at her own joke.
“Do many of the kids take the group up on their offers?” Mitch made it seem like he was an interested schoolteacher, nothing more.
“Some, I suppose. I don’t hang out there enough to know. Although there are some kids whose parents go that would surprise you.”
“Really?”
Nika held her breath. She’d been waiting for Rachel to mention other names since they’d started hanging out together.
“Yes.”
“Rachel, do you think anyone is in personal danger from this group?” Mitch turned onto the main pike through Silver Valley. Nika saw the pedestrian overpass and suppressed a shudder. Rachel didn’t react to it, only confirming Nika’s suspicions that Rachel wasn’t involved in the rock-throwing incidents.
“No. Let’s be real—if they’re stupid enough to believe what that dope is saying, they deserve what they get.” Harsh words typical of a girl Rachel’s age. Nika agreed with her, to a point, but the people Leonard Wise preyed upon were also deserving of compassion and needed a helping hand from whatever their struggles were. Just not a one-way ticket to a controlled community.
“What about you, Rachel? Do you want me to drop you at home or do you feel safer elsewhere?” Mitch’s tone was detached but Nika saw the way his hands gripped his wheel. He was holding back his protective nature, for her sake, but at the moment more for Rachel. He wanted Rachel to maintain her dignity in what was truly a crisis situation for her.
Nika felt her heart open and make more room for Mitch.
“No, take me home. I’m safe. Like I told you, they never make anyone go to them with physical force. My mother might decide to go live in the trailer park, but I never have to. I’m eighteen and I’d drop out of school and get a job to live on my own before I’d ever go with her to that psycho place.”
Nika wished she could invite Rachel to come home with her but that was impossible, until Rachel knew who she really was: a police officer.
“I wish you could come live with my family, Rachel, but we’re not going to be in our new place until next spring. We’re all going to be crammed into the business suite hotel on Silver Valley Pike. When it’s just me and my dad, I have my own room, kind of. I have to sleep in the living room on the pull-out sofa.”
“I’m fine, really. You know that—you saw my house. There’s nothing to worry about.”
After seeing how strong Rachel had been with her tormentors tonight, Nika had to agree, she had nothing to worry about as far as Rachel was concerned.
“We have to go to Rachel’s anyway, as my car is there, Mr. Everlock.” Mitch’s gaze caught hers in the rearview mirror and she caught the meaning.
He was going to meet her at her place. Afterward.
*
Nika filed her report about the New Thought meeting as quickly as her fingers could enter her impressions into the SVPD digital file system. As she was finishing up, Bryce walked in with several other SVPD officers. All part of the team that had been watching the trailer park.
“Nika. You okay?” Bryce spoke and the other officers sported concerned and compassionate expressions. Nika loved this part of being a cop, when they all worked as a team on one op. The camaraderie wasn’t unlike a big extended family.
“I’m good. I’ve finished filing my report, so I think we’re done here.” At her words, Bryce turned and dismissed the rest of the team. Nika waited for them to clear, each offering her a “Good job tonight, Nika,” or “Way to work it, Nika.” Their affirmations were better than her warmest sofa throw.
“How much of it did you see, Bryce?”
Bryce looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone in the computer room. “Mitch provided forward eyes. He reported that you and Rachel were detained by three men when you tried to leave?”
She nodded. “We were, and it was beyond creepy. They didn’t use any physical force. Instead they made us feel afraid by physical proximity and what I’d have to describe as programmed talking. They were trying to convince us to stay, to go back into the building.”
“Why did you come out so quickly?”
“If we hadn’t, we would have been stuck there. It’s in my report.” She filled him in on the pertinent details. “You know, Bryce, I have to say this is the scariest criminal case I’ve ever been on. Not the undercover part, or fear of being found out. It’s how nice, how ‘plain vanilla’ they all seem, down to each person in that cult. It’s difficult to believe the words that are spoken are harmful.”
“Until Wise is impregnating underage girls.”
“Exactly. It’s clear to me that he’s working with someone else, Bryce. He has to be. He’s intelligent but not powerful enough to rig a mayoral election like we know he did last spring.”
Bryce shook his head. “Not your concern. Just figure out who’s throwing rocks at Mitch and you, and who wrote that pig’s blood message.” He didn’t mention Trail Hikers—he couldn’t. Not in the open bay of the station.
“Believe me, I’m working on it.”
“Don’t stay too late. They’re going to shut down the main roads by midnight.”
“So the weather forecasts are correct?” The local news had been reporting the chance of a snowstorm for the past week.
Bryce shrugged. “They’re saying it’ll be a blizzard. As long as it’s not over New Year’s, I’m cool with it.”
Nika smiled. “The wedding plans getting a little stressful, Detective?”
“Zora knows I’ll do whatever she wants to make this thing between us permanent and legal. But the constant checklists are getting to be a bit much. How am I supposed to get Christmas shopping done?”
“You’ll manage.”
“Good night, Nika.” Bryce rapped his knuckles on her desk as a farewell. As she watched him go she wondered if Mitch had ever gotten that kind of joy in his eye when speaking about a woman.
*
The knock on her door wasn’t unexpected and she allowed the warmth of pleasure to wash over her when she spied Mitch’s face in her peephole.
“Hello.” She spoke to a wall of white as snow blew in with Mitch, bringing the brewing storm inside. “How’s the visibility out there?”
“Minimal.” Mitch stomped his feet on her welcome mat, imprinted with a snowman family, before he stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind him. His hair sparkled with melting snow and Nika reached out. “Here, give me your jacket.” He shrugged out of his ski jacket and handed it to her. “I’ll hang it in the guest bathroom shower. It’ll dry more quickly there. I’ve got hot cider on the stove. Help yourself and feel free to spike it if you want to.”
When she returned Mi
tch had poured himself a mug of steaming cider and from the spicy scent he’d added a shot of spiced rum, too. She poured herself one and joined him at the counter.
“Thanks for being there for me, Mitch. I know you couldn’t do anything, not officially, but knowing you were out there made all the difference.”
“You couldn’t have been certain I was there, Nika.”
“No, no one told me you’d be, but I could feel it.”
His eyes darkened and his jaw tensed. “Are you suggesting we have a connection that’s more than the case, more than sexual attraction?”
Heat rushed to every single sensitive spot on her body. “Maybe.” What the hell was she doing, admitting to Mitch that she felt connected to him in anyway other than sex and work?
“Stop it, Nika. You’re trying to figure out how to take back what you just said.”
“Not at all. A lot of law-enforcement folks have connected instincts. Partners work in sync for years and it has nothing to do with sexual attraction.”
Mitch’s laugh was low and resonated in the small kitchen. “With us, it will always involve the sexual chemistry between us.”
“I can’t argue that, Mitch.” She turned away and sat at the kitchen table. The living room sofa in front of the fire would be cozier, but that was the problem. “We have a case to solve. I think our time is best spent breaking down what I saw tonight and what you’ve observed in your classroom and with the Rainbows.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His grin wrecked her with a sexy flash of white. Mitch’s dark green thermal shirt matched his eyes, his irresistible dark looks. She let her fingers do what they wanted and brushed his dark hair off his brow. One concession to her need couldn’t hurt, could it?
Mitch grasped her hand and placed his lips on her palm, his breath hot and his tongue tortuous as he traced a slow circle on her skin. He waited until she gasped before he let go and placed her hand on the table, his on top.
“We need to focus on the case, granted. But if the storm strands me here, Nika, we’re going to do a lot more than work.”