As far as I know she’s not planning to even apply anywhere challenging. She’s playing it safe by saying she’s going to Silver Valley Community College for her first two years, then transferring. That’s a great plan for most students, but she’s always been way above average.”
“Did she say anything to you about either incident, the blood writing or the rock?”
Mitch shook his head. “No, no, of course not. In the first place, there’s no reason the kids will know about the rock, and we’ve kept the written threats as quiet as possible. Only the faculty has been told about them. In the second place, I’m not the teacher the kids come to for touchy-feely things. I’d never expect Rachel or any other student to confide in me. I just see her drift off at times, and then she got a bit belligerent over a lab procedure.”
“How can you say the kids don’t come to you when you’re the teacher sponsor of the Rainbows?” Nika wasn’t going to let him off so easily. She didn’t think he was playing a false modesty card but his comment didn’t make sense to her.
“Sure, the LGBT community and their supporters have found a safe place in my classroom to hold their meetings. They know they can trust me—I won’t repeat anything I hear in their meetings, unless I think someone is in danger or needs professional help. But I’m not their go-to-guy for pep talks, if that makes sense.”
“That’s probably wise, too, given today’s climate. You said yourself you’re not a professional counselor. You’re at heart a caring teacher with an interest in seeing the students have the support they need.” Bryce spoke as if he might know why Mitch had volunteered to be the teacher sponsor for the Rainbows.
Nika made a mental note to ask Bryce about it at a later time.
“Nika, it’d be helpful if you can become friends with Rachel. Find out what’s behind the change in her behavior.” As Bryce spoke, Mitch looked intently at her. While she heard Bryce’s suggestion she couldn’t look away from the silent message in Mitch’s eyes. Did he feel the chemistry bubbling beneath the surface, too? And not the laboratory kind?
“Nika?”
“Sorry, Bryce.” She turned back to him. “Sure, I can do that. But we need more to go on than a hunch. I’ll try to find out what her friends know about her.” She turned back toward Mitch. “Have you known her for more than this year?”
“She’s been in my class since sophomore year. It worked out that I was teaching honors chemistry her sophomore year, and then I was promoted to instruct IB chemistry, a two-year course. Rachel, along with the other seniors you’ve met, has been in my class for IB chem since last year. She’s been in my classroom for three grades now, but these past few months she’s been squirrelly. She used to be more happy-go-lucky.”
“Do you think she’s doing drugs or alcohol?”
Mitch sighed. “I sure as hell hope not. But I know we can’t rule it out. There hasn’t been one class I’ve taught since I arrived here six years ago that hasn’t had at least one or two students take the wrong path. The honors kids aren’t immune to addiction any more than the rest of us.”
Bryce looked at Nika. He didn’t have to say anything; she understood the grim expression on his face.
“I’ve got it, Bryce.” She stood. “Mitch, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Nika waited for the sun to set and changed into her regular clothes. She laughed to herself—her usual taste in clothes was far less hip than what she was wearing as a student. As a high schooler she made sure she’d picked the brand names favored by teens, as well as the colors. Her normal look was jeans and either T-shirts, long-sleeved T-shirts or turtlenecks, depending upon the season, all in muted, more natural shades.
As long as she was working undercover at Silver Valley High School she had to be very careful about being seen too much in public in her regular adult clothes. She was fairly confident that her demeanor as a student didn’t come close to resembling how she looked in everyday life, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
The thing was that if any of the students discovered she was a cop, they’d assume she was there to bust a drug ring. Prescription painkillers were traded frequently in the high school. SVPD had discovered the sellers were using their earnings to buy heroin. There were other officers working that case, however.
Her mission was to help bring down the True Believers, aka New Thought. To do that, she had to find out which students and families were undermining the open, accepting atmosphere of SVHS. The threats against the Rainbows was typical of the kind of bigoted sentiment the True Believers had fostered decades ago as they’d recruited vulnerable citizens into their evil fold.
Nika considered it fortunate that she lived in a town-home neighborhood just outside the Silver Valley school district, so she had little chance of running into any of the teens in her neighborhood.
She made use of her automatic garage-door opener as she pulled her mother’s small SUV into the cleared space, grateful for the ease with which she was in her kitchen and eating dinner after her first full day as a “senior” in high school.
Her doorbell rang and she checked the peephole before she let in her best friend and neighbor, Ivy Shaw.
“Hey. I just sat down to eat. Want some leftover shepherd’s pie?”
Ivy’s dimples accented her scheming grin. “I wouldn’t want to look like I came by to eat and not spend time with you...”
“Get in here.” Nika walked back to the kitchen table and Ivy followed. “Help yourself. There’s Chardonnay in the fridge if you want it.”
Ivy looked at Nika’s glass of water. “Aren’t you having any?”
“Nope. I’m on a case and I have to be supersharp in the morning.”
“Anything you can talk about?”
“Nope.”
“Oo-oh, that means it’s a good one. Will I hear about it at some point?”
“I hope so, once we get the bastards.”
They both laughed. Nika appreciated that Ivy understood her need to keep a lot of her work at work until her cases were solved.
“How was work for you today, Ivy?”
“The usual. The little ones are so excited about the holidays. I have a display of all of our winter and holiday-themed books and the kids love sitting in the cozy corner and reading.” Ivy was the Silver Valley Elementary School librarian. “Of course, we had a few parents complain that we were being bigoted by including nontraditional Christmas and holiday stories, along with the more traditional, expected fare.”
“You can’t please everyone.”
“The fact is that we have such a diverse community and the kids are so much more accepting of the different cultural celebrations than the parents are.”
“Are there any parents in particular who have been giving you a hard time?” Nika tried to not look too obvious. She ignored
