Exposed to Passion (Five Senses series Book 3)

by Gemma Brocato

  “Sam! Help me!”

  Rikki’s panicked voice cut through Sam’s surprise. He leaped forward and helped ease Katie’s head into Rikki’s lap. Tremors seized the girl’s body, shaking her from head to toe. Oh God, is she having a seizure?

  “What’s wrong with me? I’m so cold.” Katie’s teeth chattered violently and her voice shook with fright.

  Okay, she could talk. Not a seizure. Sam shoved the phone into his pocket, stripped off his fleece, and draped it around the girl’s shoulders. “There’s a sleeping bag by the picnic table. Go grab it. What are you waiting for? Go!” he shouted. Alex raced up the bank, tripping in his haste to follow orders.

  Rikki stroked Katie’s frizzy red hair, trying to calm the girl.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “Damned if I know. Does she have any allergies?”

  Sam looked at the crowd of students who’d gathered near them. “Any of you know if she’s allergic to anything?”

  No one volunteered any information. Dammit. Katie barely spoke to anyone at school. He was certain she’d never socialized with any of them. Of course they wouldn’t know.

  Next to him, the shivering teen thrashed her head side to side. “Oh, God,” she shrieked, “I can’t feel my body.”

  Suspicion rattled up Sam’s spine. “Katie, do you have any allergies? Have you taken anything? Any drugs?”

  “I don’t do drugs.” Her tone was indignant. “Fix this. Can’t you fix this?” Her voice rose in panic.

  “I’m trying, Katie. Focus, you have to help me. Look at me,” he commanded, gratified when she followed directions. “Are you allergic to anything? What have you eaten today?”

  “Um, cereal and…soup for lunch…” She trailed off, her eyes rolling back in their sockets.

  Rikki shook Katie’s shoulders then pinched her cheeks. Other than uncontrollable shivering, the girl didn’t react to the stimulus. “Katie. Katie! Shit, Sam, I think she’s lost consciousness.”

  “Where’s that damn sleeping bag?” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tried to connect. “Dammit! No signal. Who has service out here? Someone call 911.”

  He accepted the red nylon sleeping bag one of the boys shoved into his hands and started to spread it over Katie’s prone body. Katie moaned again, coming around.

  All hell broke loose when Sam tried to tuck the down-filled bedroll around her shoulders.

  The teen kicked her legs and batted the blanket away, shrieking as she did. “I’m not dead yet. Don’t put that on me. I’m not dead!”

  She wailed hysterically. Sam pulled the material away, then grabbed her wrists to restrain her. Katie continued to kick her legs wildly, knocking the wind out of Sam when her knee connected with his midsection. Alex came over and held Katie’s ankles and Rikki held Katie’s head, minimizing the girl’s thrashing.

  “It’s okay, Katie.” Rikki leaned over Katie’s face, crooning over and over. “We know you’re not dead. We want to help you warm up. It’s okay. Mr. K has pulled the blanket away. You’re okay.”

  Katie giggled, shocking Sam when laughter replaced shrieking. He cautiously released her hands.

  “Ha! You made a rhyme.” A dopey grin stretched across the girl’s face. Her light trilling laughter would have been cute—in other circumstances. “Oh, I can see up your nose! It looks like a cave! A bat cave. No, no, a booger cave.”

  Katie’s shivers dissipated and she lifted her hands in front of her face, waving them around and flexing into a fist then exploding them outward, laughing delightedly each time her fingers flew apart.

  “Sam, I think she’s high,” Rikki said in a discrete voice.

  “Son of a bitch!” Katie’s fascination with her fingers and the dilated pupils were pretty clear indicators of her altered state. How had he missed it? “Alex, there’s a thermos of hot coffee on the table. Go grab it and bring it here.”

  Rikki shot her hand to Alex’s arm, stopping him. “Don’t, Alex. I don’t think the caffeine will be good for her. Find a bottle of water, please.” She turned to Sam. “I think she’s already stimulated enough.”

  He surged to his feet and faced down the teens gathered in a circle. “Who did this? We all know she didn’t do it to herself. Who gave her something?” he demanded. The blank stares on some of the faces and smirks on others pissed him off more. Two of the students skulked away from the rest of the group.

  “Suzannah and Brett! Freeze.”

  The pair stopped in their tracks. At least Brett had an abashed look on his face, like he’d been caught stealing from the collection plate at church. He hung his head as Sam stalked over to them.

  Suzannah was a different story. The haughty sneer on the girl’s face turned Sam’s stomach painfully. It reminded him of the disdainful expression on his supposed best friend’s face when they’d gotten into trouble as teenagers. Robbie had lied about Sam’s involvement in bullying a classmate—Rob’s feeble attempt to clear his own name. Sam hadn’t participated in the stupid, dangerous stunt and had vehemently protested his innocence. He’d been suspended from school without a hearing, jeopardizing his scholarship to UMass. When he’d confronted Robbie about it, and had tried to drag him into the principal’s office to clear his name, Robbie had sneered and punched Sam in the nose.

  Residual anger from his teen years collided with his outrage over the prank played on Katie. That anyone would deliberately set out to abuse a girl who wouldn’t harm another living soul created a physical ache in Sam’s heart. Fists clenched at his sides, he struggled for control. He was a teacher first, and even though he wanted to rant about how asinine their stunt was, he’d have to maintain a degree of professionalism. He hated that he had to cover his ass this way when all he wanted to do was put a healthy dose of fear into these pampered little shits.

  Drawing a deep, calming breath, he addressed the pair in a deadly quiet voice. “What were you thinking?”

  Suzannah jerked her chin higher, staring at him in frigid anger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Cut the crap. You brought the brownies. That’s how you got her, isn’t it? You made a special one just for Katie, didn’t you?”

  “Mr. K, everyone had a brownie. No one else is reacting this way. There’s no way there was anything in them.” The superior scorn in her eyes nearly choked him. “I wouldn’t know where to find drugs anyway. I don’t do that kind of shit.”

  Sam looked speculatively at the guy standing next to her. As a teacher, Sam knew Brett had been on academic suspension a year ago after the principal had discovered a baggie of pot in his locker during a canine search. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where she’d gotten the drugs.

  Think, Sam. How the hell did she do it? He flashed back to when they’d all sat around the campfire. He’d passed on the dessert. Rikki had accepted one, but set it aside for later. He’d watched the other kids take and eat them. But Suzannah had slapped Brett’s hand away when he’d tried to grab one out of the box. Christ, what was it she’d said? Not that one! Come to think of it, she’d handed each person one of the treats. No one had been allowed to reach into the container for one.

  “Don’t lie to me, Suzannah. You’ll only dig a deeper hole. You passed them out. It seems to me you had a special one picked out for Katie, didn’t you? She didn’t want it, if I remember correctly, and you insisted.” Brett inched away from his girlfriend, like a damned rat abandoning a sinking ship. “Where are you going, Brett? You’re as guilty as she is. Did you give her the pot? Did you help her make the brownies?”

  Brett had frozen in place, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. Someone should tell the kid never to play cards. His poker face sucked. “I… uh… it wasn’t—”

  “Shut the fuck up, you idiot!” Suzannah snarled. “He can’t prove anything.”

  “Actually, he can.” Rikki said, as she walked up to them, holding a napkin with a partially eaten brownie on it. She handed it to Sam. “Katie didn’t e
at all of the treat Suzannah prepared for her. I’m sure once they test this, they’ll find it full of some sort of narcotics. Did you stop with just pot, Suzannah? Or is there some other mind-altering plant in there as well?”

  “I tried to talk her out of doing it.” Brett’s words spewed out in a rush. “That’s a dirty trick, even by my standards.”

  Crossing her arms across her chest in a defensive measure, Suzannah glared at Brett, her lips drawn thin. “Jesus, that’s just great! Throw me under the bus when it was your idea to begin with.”

  “No, it wasn’t”

  “Shut up. You’re making matters worse.”

  “Both of you shut up!” Sam slashed the air in front of the teens, fighting the urge to curl his fingers into a fist and hit them. Rikki must have sensed how angry he was, because she laid her hand on his shoulder, the gesture calming his indignation. The wail of sirens echoed off the river as an emergency vehicle turned onto the access road, heading their direction.

  Sam pointed at the pair of them. “Give me your car keys, Brett. You two go sit at the picnic table and wait for me. Don’t go anywhere. I’m sure the police will want to talk to you.” With one last glare at Brett, then Sam, Suzannah stalked off toward the campfire, muttering curses. Brett tagged along like a chastised dog. She shook his hand away when he tried to hold hers.

  The other kids clustered around a giggling Katie. His face ached with the force of his frown. God, all he wanted was to hold Rikki close and let her soothe his frustration and anger. She smoothed her hand over his brow, the magic of her touch easing his tension.

  “This entire trip has turned into a cluster. Can you stay with Katie while I deal with the EMTs? Make sure she is okay? See if you can get a phone number for her parents. I need to call them. Christ, I hope they press charges. Shit, I’d better call Principal Edwards, too.”

  “Katie is okay, for now. Stephanie offered to stay with her if Alex would stow her camera gear. You do what you need to do. I’ll help the kids pack up while you deal with the police, parents, and administration.”

  Curious students be damned... He needed comfort, too. Sam wrapped his arms around Rikki’s shoulders. Pulling her close, he buried his face in her hair, letting her touch soothe him. Tension drained away from his shoulders and his brow. Her fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck, sending arcs of electricity through him, melting away the last frost of his anger.

  “Thank God you’re here. I don’t know what I’d have done without you. I’m sure Suzannah and Brett would have been long gone by now. You were great with Katie.”

  “I like Katie. I hate that she is the object of anyone’s ridicule.”

  “You and me both.”

  Pressing a swift kiss to her forehead, Sam pulled away and took her hand to lead her back toward where Katie lay on the sand. She’d finally allowed someone to spread the sleeping bag over her legs. The violent tremors that had shaken the girl’s slender frame had lessened. The teen’s eyes were closed and she had a half-assed smile on her face. Sam was partially gratified to see a couple of the other students casting glares toward Brett and Suzannah. Good for them. Maybe now they’d stop tormenting Katie and see her for the nice girl she was.

  Headlights from the rescue vehicle swept the campsite, illuminating an upside-down tableau. The trip had started out with Katie on one side, separate from all the others. Thank God, that had changed. The students clustered around Katie, and Suzannah and Brett were now the isolated pair.

  Relishing the idea that Suzannah and Brett were about to get what they deserved, he walked up the bank to deal with the shit-storm created by a couple of mean, ignorant kids.

  Chapter 13

  Busy dealing with the police and the phone calls he needed to make, Sam put Rikki in charge of the field trip. He then left to follow the ambulance to the hospital, where the principal and Katie’s parents would meet them. Rikki gathered up Katie’s meager belongings after they’d pulled away.

  The mood among the teens remained somber as they quietly discussed the incident while packing away their gear. The disgust she heard in their voices would have made her smile, if she weren’t so worried about Katie. They weren’t any happier than Sam about what Suzannah had done. A few expressed remorse for not doing more to stop the bullying, not just of Katie, but other students in the school. Maybe things would get easier for Katie now. God, please let it be the case.

  Since Katie had arrived on her own, and Suzannah and Brett were on their way to town in the back seat of a police cruiser, Rikki had volunteered to drive Katie’s car and Brett’s extra passengers back to Granite Pointe. Sam’s park ranger friend had shown up with the police and had approved the overnight parking, so they’d left Brett’s vehicle where it was next to the river.

  When the two students riding with her climbed in, they were quieter than they’d been when they’d arrived a few short hours ago with Brett and Suzannah. The deeply troubling incident made her twitchy. This was a teachable moment, but Rikki couldn’t summon the calm she’d need to talk to the students accompanying her.

  Sam called when they were ten miles from Granite Pointe. Thankfully, Katie was going to be okay. According to Sam, Mr. and Mrs. Germaine had made it to the small hospital in Wayland in record time. Preliminary tests showed nothing more sinister than marijuana in the brownie. But given Katie’s relatively low weight, the amount she’d consumed was enormous. Principal Edwards had arrived shortly after Katie’s folks. He’d commended Sam for his handling of the situation, then relieved him of duty.

  Rikki pulled up at the high school to drop her passengers off where they’d left their cars.

  Stephanie paused, her fingers curled around the door handle. “I’m glad Katie is going to be okay.”

  “Me, too,” Rikki said.

  “Do you suppose she’d mind if I stopped by tomorrow to check on her?”

  The question surprised Rikki. Could Katie really come out the winner in this horrible situation? It appeared the students of Granite Pointe High School might condemn Suzannah for her hateful prank. “I think Katie would like that.”

  “She told me she was going to be your intern for the photo exhibit. I think she’ll do a good job.”

  “Thanks. I do, too.”

  Stephanie had a hopeful look on her face and met Rikki’s eyes across the center console of the car. “I’d like to help. I mean, if you need anyone else.”

  “Thanks, Stephanie. I’ll keep that in mind,” Rikki said, then waved goodbye to the teens when they hopped out of the car.

  Rikki waited until they’d started their cars and pulled out of the lot, then restarted Katie’s car. She paused, resting a hand on the steering wheel, imagining how life might improve for Katie. Smothering a yawn, she looked at the digital clock on the dashboard. It was late. Her plan for time alone with Sam had been blown to smithereens. Heaving a discouraged and tired sigh, she put the car in gear and headed home.

  Arriving home, she shut and locked the front door before snapping the porch light off. She jumped when her backside vibrated. Digging her phone from her back pocket, she scanned the display of an incoming text message from Sam.

  Wait up for me?

  Even though it was late, she wanted to see him. To talk to him and make sure he was okay. It must have been hard on him, with one fiasco after another tonight. No, last night, since it was already tomorrow…today…whatever. Her mind lagged with her fatigue.

  She stifled another yawn, tapped in a positive response to Sam’s question, and walked into the kitchen to put a kettle on to boil. Sam might want something stronger, but Rikki craved the solace of a hot cup of tea.

  It would take Sam close to an hour to get back to town, giving her time to clean the house. One of these days, she was going to turn over a new leaf and put things away where they belonged. Really, she mentally chastised herself, she needed to stop being messy.

  While she waited for the kettle to boil, she loaded three days’ worth of dirty dishes into the dis
hwasher. Then she took a moment to straighten the papers strewn across the table. A packet of financial papers from the foundation had arrived this morning and Rikki had spent a few hours going over the spreadsheets and business analytic reports, trying to stay abreast of the latest tax laws affecting non-profit organizations. Silas had insisted it was important for Rikki to be in the know about such things, even if she found the details dusty, dry, and mind-breakingly dull.

  After shoving the reports in a file folder, she moved it to a desk in the extra bedroom, sparing a glance at the portable darkroom. Suddenly, processing the film images she’d captured tonight tickled her fancy. She was surprised at how eager she was to see what she’d captured with Silas’s old camera tonight.

  If Sam weren’t on his way over, she might have tried. Time enough for playing with it tomorrow. Tonight was about developing memories with the man who’d snared her attention and a corner of her heart.

  The kettle was whistling when she walked back into the kitchen. Pulling a cup decorated with wreathes and pinecones from the cupboard, she dropped a tea bag in and poured hot water. She took the cup and a gingersnap cookie and wandered back to the living room to wait.

  Surveying the room, she chuckled. Sam was going to think someone had tossed her house while she was out. Clothing, papers, take-out containers, and blankets lay wherever she’d let them fall. The only things missing were her cameras. She’d already neatly stowed those away, as she always did when she finished using them. She set her steaming cup on the coffee table and scurried about the room picking up crap.

  Just as she’d finished her mad dash to make her home presentable, headlights flashed through the front window, illuminating the dimly lit room with a momentary glare. Rikki laid a neatly folded blanket across the back of the sofa and walked to the front door to peer out the sidelight window. Sam parked his truck in the drive behind hers and hopped out. Opening the door, she stepped out onto the porch, waiting in the semi-darkness while he wearily trudged up the steps.