Hidden Fates (Hidden Heroes #4)

Chapter 19

Garrett looked over his shoulder at the clock on the back wall of the classroom. He had been teaching this class now for over a month, and the only answers he’d gotten were the ones Mrs. Huber left him for the pop quizzes she’d prepared in her absence to test their reading comprehension of Pride and Prejudice .

Madison Grier was still a complete mystery to him, as were her parents, whom the FBI was still unable to get indictments on in the drug ring that law enforcement had been investigating for well over a year now. Whoever was heading this organization was not only smart, but elusive, and if it wasn’t for all the extra time Garrett was getting to spend with Reese on their lunch breaks, he would actually be pretty pissed off that his time and efforts as a Texas Ranger were being wasted on reading and discussing something he’d long since studied and put aside back in high school.

A hand shot up. Madison’s.

“Yes?” Garrett asked, happy she was participating in their class discussion.

“I was just thinking, wouldn’t you agree that pride is part of what makes you who you are? So, if society is trying to teach people that having pride, or even too much pride, is bad, then isn’t that a form of taking away a person’s individuality?”

“Well,” Garrett had learned to use questions like these to his advantage by turning them around to the class, and seeing who could give the best answer or rebuttal. “Let’s open this point up for discussion. Is asking someone to give up their pride the same as asking them to give up their individuality?”

“No,” Lia Marshall, a petite blonde who sat in the front row said. “Pride has nothing to do with who you are. It’s about how you carry yourself.”

Garrett nodded, giving the room a moment to digest her words. Another hand shot up. Aaron Trayer’s, one of the school’s star athletes. “I think pride is important to have. I mean, if you can’t be proud of things you’ve accomplished, then what’s the point of trying to do anything?”

“Interesting,” Garrett said, thoroughly enjoying this unexpected philosophical debate. “Okay, the bell is going to ring in a few seconds. For homework, let’s write a one-page paper on a time in your life when you exhibited pride, and what the turnout was from that pride. Not the event or action itself, but the pride. For example, if you were too proud to ask for directions and ended up getting lost, and missing an important appointment. Your story doesn’t have to be negative, y’all just got me curious now.” When the bell rang, all the students shot out of their seats. “See you tomorrow,” Garrett called out, then turned back to his desk to gather his things.

He had the next period free and he wanted to go back to his truck and touch base with Caden and Blake, see if they’d dug anything up since the last time he talked to them three days ago. He put his lesson plan book in the briefcase as the class filed out of the room, one by one, talking, joking, laughing. A few of the kids gave him a smile, a nod, or a quick wave.

His attention diverted to Madison as she picked up her backpack that looked heavier than usual and something orange fell out of one of the side pockets. Garrett inwardly groaned, hoping no one else saw, but she just picked it up, stuffed it inside and practically ran out the door, likely stepping on a few toes along the way.

“Hey, watch it,” one of the kids called out as she pushed past. Garrett wasn’t sure who said that because his gaze was firmly on the floor next to Madison’s chair. A white powder-like residue lightly dusted a small area of the floor where her bag had been just moments ago.

He’d been walking up and down the aisles for the last forty-five minutes, and hadn’t noticed it before. This was also the first class of the day, and Garrett had nearly bumped into the janitor that morning as he was leaving the room, a mop in hand. So that powder was definitely not there before or during class.

As soon as the last student exited the classroom, Garrett closed the door, pulled out an evidence bag from his briefcase and carefully dabbed the inside of it into the powder, then sealed the bag shut.

He called Caden from his truck as he raced across the city to drop off the sample at the lab. “I don’t know if her parents are involved, but I think Madison Grier has found an interesting way to conceal drugs on her person.”

“Oh?” Caden said. “Do tell.”

“Menstruation pads. Or at least wrapping the little baggies inside the individual plastic wrapping they come in. I mean, who’s going to check what they think is a menstrual pad?”

“Dang, kids are definitely getting more creative these days,” Caden said.

Garrett chuckled. “If only they’d use their intelligence for something useful, like curing cancer instead of dealing drugs.”

“You catch her in the act?”

“No, but the sample I’m driving over right now undoubtedly came from the supposed pad that fell out of her bag when class ended. And this isn’t the first time apparently. The first day I was here, one of the kids called her Madi Padi and threw a pad at her.”

“Bullying at its worst,” Caden mused. “It seems like kids are only getting meaner. Anyway, I’ll put a rush on those test results and keep you posted as soon as the lab gets back to me.”

“Thanks.” Garrett ended the call and focused on the road, wondering how Reese’s day was going. She’d breezed through her first month of teaching like an old pro. The kids loved her, and they couldn’t be happier or more excited about making junk journals for their senior project.

She’d really come a long way since the day he met her in that abandoned motel room, alone, scared, dirty and hungry. It was hard to believe that was the same woman he’d been spending time with, sneaking kisses between classes, having lunch in the faculty lounge at lunch, and making out on his couch in the evenings. He loved cooking with her, watching movies together, catching the sunset on his deck with their toes in the water, and looking up at the stars through his telescope with her.

But she wasn’t the only one who’d changed. He felt like a different man, too. He still loved his friends and his job, but they were no longer his top priority. She was. The solitude he craved in the house he’d spent years renovating didn’t comfort him nearly as much anymore as having her there to share it all with. The sound of her laughter, the way she hummed when she made her coffee in the morning, even the way she tended to her little garden.

She brought this sense of magic and wonder to his life that he wanted to capture and hold onto forever. But more than that, he wanted to do something special for her that showed her just how much he cared about her. He’d been listening to the radio on the way back to the school when a commercial gave him the perfect idea.

***

Reese was pleased with how creatively her senior class students were integrating Neo-Expressionist art into their junk journals. After almost a week of lessons, she’d actually succeeded in capturing their imaginations with stories of how artists were only then discovering how to use contrasting colors to make images come to life and have a certain glow about them. Since she herself was a mixed-use artist, she encouraged her students to use whatever medium they felt comfortable with, whether it was paints, cut outs, photos, or anything else that inspired their art. Other than using Neo-Expressionism as inspiration, their only other assignment for their junk journal was that they had to make it personal.

Reese slowly walked up and down the center aisle of the classroom, glancing over their shoulder to check their work and making herself available for questions. The students sat four to a table, with four tables on each side of the room. When she’d first applied for this job, Reese wasn’t sure if she’d like it, but seeing her students so deeply immersed in their work gave her a sense of satisfaction she hadn’t felt since creating her own art.

A knock at the door jolted Reese out of her thoughts. She glanced around the room, making sure her students were all still working and not looking to her for any kind of guidance, then went to the door and opened it. Mrs. Arbiter, Principal Ryker’s receptionist, stood with a gentle smile. “Principal Ryker has requested to see you at your earliest convenience.”

“Is everything alright?” Reese had never been summoned to the principal's office and even as an adult, it made her kind of nervous.

“All he asked was that I let you know he wants to see you.” Mrs. Arbiter turned and walked away as if this part of her job was as routine as answering the phones. It probably was.

By the time the bell rang and the students put away their supplies in the appropriate bins and filed out of the classroom, Reese was a nervous wreck from psyching herself out about what this meeting could possibly be about. Once she was alone in the classroom, she gave herself a moment to breathe. Mornings were always busy for her. Teaching three classes back-to-back was a bit tiring, but she was now free for the next two periods until she had her last class of the day, another senior art class for students who were taking a different elective during this period.

She usually took her lunch break now and met Garrett in the faculty lounge, but since Principal Ryker had asked to see her, lunch with Garrett would have to wait.

As soon as she opened the door to the receptionist’s waiting area, she knew in her gut she should’ve turned right around and left. Mrs. Arbiter wasn’t there, probably taking her own lunch break, and Principal Ryker’s door was ajar. There were voices coming out of his office. One was his, the other a man she didn’t recognize.

“I’ll have everything done by the end of business today,” Principal Ryker said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Do you foresee any problems?” The other man asked.

“No, I’ll take care of it.”

Reese had no idea what she’d walked in on, but her gut feeling was screaming for her to leave. She jolted when Principal Ryker’s door burst open and a man wearing a crisp black suit and a grim look on his face appeared in the doorway. Out of habit, Reese quickly looked away before their eyes could meet, but she felt his gaze burning through her. “Excuse me,” she said softly, and stepped aside to let him pass. The man hadn’t given her any reason to feel this way about him, but there was something about this guy that unsettled her.

He growled under his breath and stormed past her, making her shudder from the intensity of his presence.

“Miss Graham?” Principal Ryker’s voice nearly made her jump another two inches off the ground as she quickly turned to face him. “Did you need something?”

Reese’s gaze collided with his, and yet again she watched him get shanked in a prison cell and die in a pool of his own blood.

“Miss Graham?”

Reese cleared her throat and took a small step in his direction. “You asked to see me.”

He thought about it for a moment and then said, “Ah, yes. Please, come in.”

At his invitation, Reese took a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the other man had left, then promptly went into Principal Ryker’s office and sat in the chair across from his desk.

“Before we get on with business, I do have to ask, how much of my private conversation did you overhear?”

“No, I mean none. I had just walked in as the man was leaving.” She really hadn’t heard much of anything, and at the moment, her nerves were so frayed, she couldn’t remember a single word of it anyway.

Principal Ryker eyed her warily. When she didn’t waver, he gave her a slight nod and continued. “The reason I asked to see you is because The North Dallas Contemporary Art Museum, which happens to be just a few miles up the road, would like to feature some of our seniors’ junk journals in their Summer of Art Display. I’m going to trust you to choose the best ones.” He handed her a folder from his desk. “All the details are inside.”

When Reese didn’t move, Principal Ryker raised his eyebrows. “That will be all. Thank you.”

She stood abruptly and nearly ran out of the office. Rushing down the hall to her office, she didn’t stop moving until she slammed into a hard wall… of muscle.

“Whoa!” Garrett chuckled, placing his arms on her waist to steady her. “Where’s the fire, Miss Graham?”

Reese bounced off his chest, but remained standing so close to him their chests nearly touched as they breathed. “Sorry,” she said, holding the folder at her side. “I had a meeting with Principal Ryker and I needed to get back to my office to look through the folder he gave me.”

“What’s it about? And can I just say how much I don’t like that you were alone in his office with him?” Garrett asked. “If he’s -”

“He’s the school principal, Garrett. I can’t just avoid him because of how I saw him die.”

“I know,” Garrett conceded. “What’s in the folder?”

“The North Dallas Contemporary Art Museum wants to feature some of my students’ junk journals in an exhibit this summer.”

“Wow, really? That’s so cool.” The halls were empty since everyone was at lunch now, but Reese couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was there.

Garrett must’ve picked up on her unease because his easy smile suddenly turned pensive. “What’s wrong?”

That brought Reese out of her daze. “Nothing,” she said a little too quickly. “It’s just been a long day, and now I have this to deal with.”

“You’re not happy about the museum thing?”

Reese shrugged. “I’m not the one whose art is going to be on display for everyone to see and critique. But I know how hard it can be to put yourself out there like that. I hope my students, or at least some of them, are feeling confident enough to share their innermost thoughts and feelings with the world.”

Garrett took her hand in his. “Don’t worry. With you as their teacher, I’m sure they are loving what they’re creating and will be proud to display it.”

Reese smiled. It was a placating thing to say, but his heart was in the right place so she couldn’t hold it against him.

“Reese?” Garrett said softly. “Are you worried about how the kids will feel displaying their work, or is this about something else?”

“There’s nothing else.” She hated feeling so on edge, but she had no intention of being that woman who always went running to her man with every little problem. Her man. She liked the sound of that.

“Okay. I can walk you to your office, then we can get lunch. Unless you’d rather be left alone. I can always grade papers while I eat my sandwich.”

Of course, she didn’t want him to leave her alone. “No, you can walk with me. I’ll just put this on my desk and grab my lunch.” She could look through the folder during her next free period.

They walked back to her office together and while Garrett was always professional when they were at the school, she still enjoyed having him this close to her. She didn’t miss the times his fingers brushed up against hers, or how he took every opportunity to accidentally brush up against her.

Her office felt more like a large closet with a desk, some shelves, and a storage unit that contained most of the art supplies she wasn’t currently using in any of her classes. She placed the folder on her desk, snatched her phone and lunchbox, and turned to leave, only to bump into Garrett. He was smiling broadly at her, a gleam in his eyes like he was up to something. “What?” She asked, unable to keep her own smile to herself.

“Even in these fluorescent lights, you’re still a sight, and the way this blouse hugs your curves…” His voice faded as his arms went around her waist. He lifted her onto her desk and proceeded to devour her mouth like she was the last woman on her and he’d die if he didn’t kiss her right then and there. Thankfully he’d had the sense to close the door.

When he pulled back, he cupped her cheek and said, “Tell me you don’t have any plans this weekend.”

Reese inhaled the soft scent of his body wash, a light mix of pine and musk. Everything about this man turned her on in ways she never thought possible. “Not yet. What did you have in mind?”

“There’s this thing I want to take you to. I think you’ll like it. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I wanted to give you something to look forward to so you don’t stress as much about what’s in that folder.”

Reese wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and feel the rise and fall of his chest with every breath. “You’re the best.” She’d known she was in love with Garrett for a while now, but it was getting harder to find ways of telling him without saying those three little words. “Come on, I’m hungry,” she said, not sure if she’d ever look at her desk the same way.

Garrett kissed her thoroughly again, then groaned low in his throat. “Me too.” At her playfully raised eyebrow, he sighed, kissed her forehead, and stood back allowing her to stand and adjust herself before opening her office door. “Let’s go eat, Miss Graham.”

Something about the way he said her name like that always made her tingle in all the right places, and she was sure he knew it. “You are such a tease, Mr. Cooper.”

Garrett grinned. Yeah, he knew exactly what he did to her, and he enjoyed every second of it.