by Geri Krotow
Mitch hoped to hell this case ended with less drama.
“Just making sure your wire isn’t exposed, Nika. There’s a dress code at Silver Valley High School, young lady.” He dropped his voice as low as he could while being sure she heard him.
Nika’s face flamed rosy pink and it wasn’t from the red laser snowflake that flickered over her. Satisfaction wrapped around his gut, which he expected. It was the instant erection that threatened to throw him off. He didn’t need to sport a raging hard-on for a “student,” not if he wanted to keep his job at Silver Valley.
Damn it. He wanted—needed—time alone with Nika, to tell her that not only was she the hottest undercover agent he’d ever met, he was in love with her.
“Go do your job, Mr. Everlock. Bryce suggests you take a walk through the locker room showers on the way.” Her firm tone didn’t match the smoldering look in her eyes, and he wondered if maybe there was a chance she felt the same depth to their connection that he did. A man could hope.
*
Awareness of Mitch made Nika’s skin as hot and sweaty as if she were one of the teens grinding on the dance floor and not a twenty-nine-year-old undercover operative. So many thoughts raced in her mind and she needed to tell Mitch, but not here, not while she was working.
Besides, how was she going to start the conversation? Hey, Mitch, I think I’m falling for you. And while I don’t see myself settling down and having babies, not with this job, I’d really like to commit to you for longer than a few hot nights.
No, that would never fly with Mitch. Mitch carried a silent strength with him. She knew he wasn’t the kind of man to ever harm a woman; she’d sensed his kindness and gentle side the minute she’d met him. And the way he’d reacted when the rock came through the window had proved his instincts were to put her safety first. And the way he’d made love to her, with both gentleness and ferocity, only stressed how much he cared, how much he controlled himself for her pleasure.
What intimidated her about Mitch was how he made her feel.
Mitch had served in the military, in one of the most elite units. He’d had to make hard decisions, she was sure. And while her family’s struggles had taught her that no matter how kind a man was in a regular, peaceful setting, one never knew what they were going to do when the crap hit the fan, it didn’t apply to her and Mitch.
Mitch wasn’t a man she ever had to fear, ever.
Who was she kidding? She’d spend forever with him if he asked.
What had he been about to tell her? She ran her finger through the thick frosting on one of the cupcakes and licked it. Sweet and salty, as the cupcake was salted caramel. You have to take the pain with the joy. She laughed and Rachel looked at her like she was crazy.
“What’s so funny, Nika?”
“My life. When you’re older, you’ll get it.”
“I think the sugar is getting to you.”
“Nika!” Bryce’s voice boomed in her ear. “Quick! Go out to the front. There’s a group of at least twenty kids trying to break through the security checkpoint. They’re throwing rocks at our uniformed officers.”
Chapter 23
Loud screams followed by a huge roar drowned out whatever else Bryce was trying to say. Nika repeated what she’d heard so that Bryce and the team in the van knew what she’d been able to hear. She turned to Rachel. “Stay here, and keep our group close together. If anything starts flying, hit the deck.”
“Why can’t I go with you?”
“Police business.”
Nika ran for the gym exit, the doors that led into the large corridor where two metal detectors were set up and operated by several SVPD officers.
Total chaos was breaking out in the gym and she forced her way past sweaty teens, hearing more than one girl squeal as she stepped on toes. She’d dressed in typical rebellious teenaged fashion with a formal dress and Doc Martens boots. The boots were perfect as far as adolescent fashion went but she’d chosen them for this eventuality.
“Sorry, let me through!” She wasn’t about to pull her weapon from her thigh holster unless she knew the students were at risk. Then she’d do what she had to.
The lights went out. The students let out a cry of dismay as the music stopped and the emergency lighting came on, harsher and far less sexy than the dance illumination.
“Nika, if you can get some of the kids to leave the gym from the back doors, do it. Otherwise just get out of there. We’ve got a big problem at the entrance. Six more units are en route.” Bryce’s voice rapped in her ear but Nika ignored it.
She found Jon, the Rainbows president, near her and grabbed his upper arm. “I need your help. It could get really messy. Let’s try to get everyone out the back doors.”
“We’ll be expelled for opening those doors!”
“Not in this instance. Get everyone outside, out of the gym.”
Mitch was in the hallway and she wanted to go to him. She knew he could handle himself, but he didn’t know what they were up against. None of them did.
Why was she worrying about a specially trained operative when she had her own mission to worry about?
It took all of her training to put Mitch out of her mind and focus on the task at hand. As she made one last sweep of the gym before she went out to the corridor, her eyes froze on a police officer’s most dreaded sight.
Rachel was being dragged toward the bottom of the folded bleachers by a man who had his arm wrapped around her neck. She wasn’t struggling and as Nika looked more closely she saw why. The man had a knife to Rachel’s neck.
“Bryce, Rachel is being kidnapped by a man with a knife. I can’t make out his face from here.”
“Where? Where is she, Nika?”
Nika started running toward Rachel, sticking to the side of the gymnasium, up against the wall and now the bleachers.
“Nika! Answer back.”
“I’ve got eyes on them. East side of the gym, under the fifth section of bleachers. I think he’s going to try to drag her into the boys’ locker room.”
“Keep eyes on them, Nika, but do. Not. Engage. Wait for backup. I’m sending in our hostage negotiator.”
“I’ve had the same training, Bryce.” Nika was ten feet from them and peered through the bleacher’s steel girders to see the man’s face lit up by a side spotlight.
Daniel Donovan.
“It’s Daniel Donovan. I’m going into the locker room with them, Bryce. I can’t risk that he’ll get her out of the school building. If I lose them we might never see Rachel again. I’m cutting out.” She yanked the earpiece out, needing to rid herself of the distraction. Bryce would still hear whatever her mike picked up.
As she neared the door to the boys’ locker room Nika had a brief thought of Mitch and whether he’d be okay with her doing this. She knew he would. Mitch believed in her.
*
The locker room was damp and dark, the only light coming from the emergency lighting system. The rasp of heavy breathing echoed over the metal lockers and Nika followed the sound as silently as possible, her weapon drawn, its safety off.
“What do you want from me?” Rachel’s voice was strained but steady.
“You need to learn to listen to your mother, little girl. If you would have just joined her with the rest of us at the community home, then none of this would have had to happen.”
“None of what? Let me go!”
“Move any more and I’m going to have to hurt you.”
Rachel’s whimper was as effective as any other call to action Nika had received as a police officer. She held her pistol firmly in both hands as she turned into the aisle where Daniel had Rachel pinned up against a locker, his hand on her upper chest while he held a knife to her throat.
“Silver Valley PD. Drop the knife, Donovan.”
His pale face turned toward her and he grinned: a sick, menacing stretch of his thin lips. “You think you can get me? Right.”
“Drop the knife.”
As he focused on
her, distracted, Donovan’s hand moved infinitesimally as did the knife. Nika held her aim steady as she watched Rachel push Donovan’s arm as she kneed him in the groin. He stumbled back and Rachel ran to Nika.
Donovan didn’t let go of the knife, didn’t fall. Gasping, he roared, “Come back here, you bitch!”
“Get out of here. Go to Mitch.” Nika spoke low and quickly, hoping Rachel had the strength to listen.
“I’m not leaving you with this psycho piece of shit.”
“You do not know your place in this world. You will learn!” As Donovan lunged at them, Nika shoved Rachel out of the way and kept her weapon trained on him. She heard Rachel scream for help as she left the locker room.
Nika faced Donovan. His twisted expression was a face of the cult, the source of so much hate and family destruction.
“I am going to take you down. You are nothing more than another teenage slut.” He waved his knife around like the madman he was.
Nika held her ground, her focus entirely on the knife. She wasn’t wearing body armor and even if she was, a knife was a cop’s worst enemy as blades could pierce Kevlar that bullets merely dented. The dim light reflected off the blade and the crimson blood—Rachel’s blood—contrasted against the silver.
“Drop it, Donovan. I promise you I’m a sure shot.”
“You’re part of the problem, you lying excuse for a woman!” His screams reverberated around the locker room. “You belong in the family, making family. Not trying to be a man in a man’s job.”
Son of a bitch. Donovan had really broken with reality.
“You can drop it for me, Donovan, or wait for more officers to show up and take you out. What do you want?”
The knife steadied and Donovan swayed, as if he were about to pass out. Nika registered that he raised his arm to throw the knife as she saw the flash of the blade arc toward her. She ducked and the knife flew by. She heard a muffled grunt behind her but had to ignore it. Until she heard a body hit the ground.
“Mitch!” Mitch lay on the ground six feet behind her, the knife impaled in his shoulder.
“Go get her, Nika.” His gaze was steady, purposeful, but he had to be in shock, referring to Donovan as “her.”
“Leave the knife alone, Mitch. Help is coming.”
Then she ran after Donovan.
Donovan had already run for the back of the locker room to the entrance that opened into the main school corridor. Where there were hundreds of students.
“Stop!”
Donovan reached the door and had his hand on the handle and turned to look at her. His other hand was outstretched, holding a second weapon he hadn’t used against Rachel.
A gun.
Nika saw his finger move as he squeezed the trigger. The sound of the bullet firing from his weapon was deafening in the small space, but she was expecting it as she hit the ground and rolled, shooting at him.
Donovan dropped his pistol as he grabbed his thigh and fell to the concrete floor, screaming.
Nika scrambled up and kicked his weapon away.
A cold metal barrel pressed against her temple as a familiar female voice spoke. “You’re done here, Nika. Drop your weapon.”
Kristine Rattner. Mitch’s meaning when he’d said “her” crystallized in dreaded comprehension.
“Let me kneel down and place it on the ground, Kristine. You don’t want it to go off and kill your boyfriend over there.”
“Shut up and do it!” Kristine’s hands shook and Nika waited for a chance to throw her to the ground.
Nika knelt and placed her weapon on the floor, going as slowly as possible. Kristine forced her to move, on her knees, closer to Donovan’s writhing form, in front of the door. “Daniel, you hang in there. I’ve got this bitch in hand, and I’m going to get you out.” She put her mouth near Nika’s ear. “You are going to get what you deserve. I’ll bet you thought I was so stupid, not recognizing you in the bathroom. Then when you showed up at our meeting, a meeting for True Believers, I knew who you were. You’re evil. You think you’re so superior. You don’t know the truth.”
Nika prayed she could keep Kristine distracted long enough for SVPD to get there and rescue Mitch. Bryce heard everything through her concealed mike.
Where the hell was her backup?
Donovan made a feeble attempt to grab her ankle but as he did the door burst open behind him, smacking his head and forcing his body to bend in two. He grunted as several SVPD officers entered, all with weapons drawn and on him.
Nika felt Kristine jump in surprise and used the opening in her defenses. She grabbed the hand holding the gun to her head and forced it up. Kristine cried out as Nika twisted and squeezed Kristine’s hand until she dropped the gun. And probably broke a few of Kristine’s wrist bones.
“Don’t move!” Two uniformed SVPD officers separated from the group attending to Donovan and arrested Kristine.
Nika’s legs shook but she had to keep moving, to get to Mitch.
“I need EMTs for Mitch Everlock. He’s down, over in the next row of lockers. This is the shooter and the one who had the knife—Daniel Donovan. This woman is Kristine Rattner. You saw what she tried to do. Take them both in.”
Nika ran to be with Mitch as the officers got to work. And practically ran into him as he stood in the aisle, leaning heavily on one of the lockers.
“Nice work, Officer Pasczenko.” His deep voice was steady but strained and she searched his face for signs of shock or pain.
“Are you okay, Mitch?” His shoulder was bleeding, the knife gone. “You pulled the knife out?”
“Just a surface abrasion.” He held his hand to his shoulder where the dark stain on his dress shirt was widening.
“Let me guess. You take your hand away and the blood starts gushing.”
“I love a woman who can handle gore.” He smiled and she wanted to slap him and hug him at the same time. And then she remembered.
“You were supposed to be out front, handling the rowdy kids. What were you doing in here?” Anger and resentment boiled into an ugly mix. She felt like a fool. She’d actually believed that he trusted in her ability to solve this case, to handle whatever went down tonight. That he’d trusted her.
“SVPD had it under control. It was Kristine. She let a bunch of kids in who hadn’t bought tickets. There are going to be at least two-dozen underage drinking arrests. We called in backup units. Rachel found me and begged me to come in here.”
Rachel.
“Where’s Rachel now?”
“EMTs are looking her over. They’ll take her to the hospital to make sure the knife wound on her throat is minor.”
Nika wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “Why are you really here, Mitch?”
“Why do you think I’m here?”
“Because you...you didn’t think I could handle this on my own,” she whispered, not wanting it to be true but knowing it was.
“Is that what you think of me, Nika? That I wouldn’t have your six in the middle of an op that you’re in charge of?” His gaze narrowed and she wanted to focus on her anger, her sense of betrayal, but she noted the white lines around his eyes.
“Mitch, do you feel okay?”
“Sure.” And then all six feet three inches of Mitch Everlock dropped to the locker room floor like a lead weight.
Chapter 24
Christmas Eve
“I’ll have everything ready by six, Mom. Come over then.” Nika spoke to her mother on the phone as she traced her finger around the glass icicles she’d hung on her Christmas tree. Convincing her mother that she had enough food for the entire family’s Christmas Eve dinner was always a challenge. “Ivy will be here, too.” And Mitch...she’d hoped to invite him but hadn’t heard from him since the Silver Bells Ball. Since she’d broken her undercover role and gone back to her regular role as an SVPD officer.
She’d made sure he was okay, of course. The ER doctor had let her stay by his side the entire time he’d been worked on. Mitch’s stab wo
und had only required stitches, thank God. And a pint of blood. Nika hadn’t been able to shake her culpability for Mitch’s brush with death.
Mitch could have died because she hadn’t taken out Donovan soon enough.
After she hung up with her mother she checked on the roast and added some broth to the bottom of the pan. It was still only half past eight in the morning; the roast would slow cook for the next eight hours. Her kitchen counter was crammed with all of the ingredients for the holiday meal. A meal she’d wanted to share with Mitch more than anyone.
At least Rachel was going to be here. She was staying with Nika for the rest of the school year, by choice. She was out with a few of her friends this morning, doing last-minute shopping. Rachel’s popularity had exploded once the story came out about how she’d escaped a madman with only butterfly bandages on her throat.
The deeper wounds Rachel had would take longer to heal.
Rachel had asked Nika to join them but she had to make it clear that she wasn’t a student. Her cover had been blown and, besides, she needed time alone to nurse her broken heart. A break only one man would ever be able to fix.
Mitch.
It made sense that Mitch hadn’t called her. At first she’d assumed it was because he was embarrassed that he’d fainted. But she’d seen far less serious wounds take down the most macho men. He’d had a decent stab wound that had nicked an artery. She’d applied pressure to it until the EMTs came in, which was within minutes. Mitch had been conscious and grumpy by then.
It had been his own fault for standing behind her when Donovan was wielding that blade. Or so she thought. And thought. She had barely slept in a week and had finally admitted to herself that it wasn’t anger that kept her up. It was her own damned guilt. Guilt at not trusting him, not seeing that he’d been there at the dance, in the locker room, fully capable of stepping in, but instead he’d allowed her to do her job. Mitch had watched as she’d taken out Daniel Donovan because Mitch had trusted her capabilities.