CHAPTER NINETEEN
Karina
April
Today has been the longest day of the semester, I’m totally sure of that, and it’s probably because Spring Break is right around the corner. It’s sorely needed all the way around. From me to the kids, to the other teachers – I think we’re all burnt out. One more week and I get to spend all Mason’s free time with him. To say I’m giddy is an understatement. Lately things have kept us apart, and I need all the time with him I can get.
One more week – that’s the mantra I keep repeating. I know it’s bad. I love my job, really I do, but every once in a while the stress gets to me.
As I exit the school and head toward the teacher’s lot, I notice someone lying against the concrete sign in the quad that sits in front of the school. From where I am, I can only see shoes, but immediately I’m on edge.
Hurrying along, pulling the strap of my purse up around my shoulder as I get to a position I can see. It’s one of Caleb’s teammates, Maddox, better known as Dox. He’s one of the bigger guys who plays on the defensive line. Gazing down at him, I see he’s completely out of it. His head tilts to the side, mouth open, and it almost looks like he’s sleeping.
Leaning down, I shake his shoulder. “Dox?”
He makes a noise, letting me know that he’s at least alive.
“Maddox!” I shake his shoulder harder, and for the first time notice a smell coming off of him that I shouldn’t be noticing at school. Reaching down, I put my fingers to the pulse point on his neck. It’s faint but there. Taking my phone out, I quickly dial 911.
“Yes, this is Karina Holland. I’m a teacher at Laurel Springs High School, and I’ve got a student passed out in front. He smells heavily of moonshine, and I can barely get him to come around.”
The woman on the other end of the line talks like she believes everything is going to be okay, and I want to feel that in my bones, but right now I don’t. All I can think about is keeping the students from seeing this. After what happened at the barn party and how it affected the school, the last thing I want to do is bring back bad memories or to have blood on my hands. I know I’m speaking, can feel my lips moving, can hear a hushed voice in the background that I know is mine, but I have zero idea of what I’m saying. My hands shake as I continue to make inconsequential noises. In the distance I can hear the wail of an ambulance.
We hang up as the paramedics hop down from the back of the ambulance, stretcher between them. One of them I recognize as Blaze. “What happened?” she questions as I go over what little bit I know. If someone asked me to tell them what exactly I said to her, I don’t think I’d be able to repeat it.
“Is he going to be okay?” I finally find my voice; finally ask the real question of the day.
“His pulse is weak.” She looks up to me, and I notice the fear in her eyes. “Did he have anything on him, anything nearby that we can attribute this to?”
I shake my head, my hair blowing against my lips in the breeze. “Absolutely nothing. I was walking to my car when I saw his feet, and I thought it was odd to see feet there. Like they were. Honestly I was thinking about Spring Break.” My voice cracks. What if he doesn’t get to enjoy the Spring Break of his senior year? What if he’s ruined that for himself?
As fast as I can, I move back, allowing them room to work. An IV is put in his arm as a Laurel Springs police car comes to a screeching halt behind the ambulance. Mason gets out, all business. I’ve never seen him in uniform like this before, never seen him take command of a scene or investigation. He’s quiet, authoritative, and assured as he starts asking questions and setting up a perimeter. Watching him make his way to me, my hands get sweaty, and I have to remind myself that this is the man I sleep with every night, except for when he works late shifts.
“You okay?” he asks quietly as he steps up to me, directing me out of the line of what’s happening with Dox. He moves me over to the double doors that lead into the school.
“I thought he was dead.” My voice is flat, tears in my eyes. “He looked dead.”
“They don’t think he got a bad batch of moonshine.” He gives me a little piece of the information he’s discovered. “They think he’s drank too much. They’ll flush him out and pump his stomach full of charcoal.”
“How would he be doing it here at school?” My voice is a hushed whisper.
“He’s a football player. Is he dragging around a gallon container of water with him to stay hydrated?” Mason asks.
This semester I don’t have Maddox in class, but I put myself back to last semester when I had him, and I distinctly remember a large Yeti he carried, always drinking from it to keep from having muscle cramps because of dehydration. “He always had a silver Yeti he carried everywhere.”
“Wonder where it is now.” Mason jogs back over to where Maddox laid before they got him on the stretcher.
I watch, not allowing myself to breathe a sigh of relief until they have him in the back of the ambulance and they’re on their way to the hospital. Only then do I let my eyes travel to where Mason is bent over, rifling through a book bag. “This it?” he holds up a silver Yeti, just like the one I remember Maddox drinking out of.
“That’s it.” I nod the affirmation.
He opens it, sniffing, before holding it back from his nose. “Good God, I can’t stand the smell of that stuff, I will never get the fascination with it.”
Truth be told, I don’t either, but it’s cheap and these kids like to have what they think is a good time. “I guess I’ll go inside and make sure his parents are called.”
“You seen anyone acting suspicious around here lately, Rina?” he asks as he crowds up into my space. “Anyone give you a weird feeling, make you uncomfortable? This shit is coming from inside this school, and we’ve got to figure out who and where before another kid dies.”
The thought of something happening to any of the kids I think of as mine is enough to threaten tears falling. Immediately I tell him the one person who’s always made me uncomfortable, in one way or another, since I came here. “Mr. Cartwright, the science teacher. We started around the same time together, and anytime I’m with him, I feel gross.” I shiver. “There’s no explanation for it, other than the fact he’s asked me out a number of times and I’ve always said no. Sometimes he’s more aggressive than others, but once in a while, he crosses a line.”
“How does he cross a line?” Mason’s voice is tight, his glare is intense.
“I just don’t like the way he casually touches people around him. He did it to me a few times when he first moved here, and I just didn’t like it,” I’m at a loss to explain the way this man makes me feel. There are certain people who give off a vibe. Mr. Cartwright is one of them.
“Know where I might find him?”
“He tutors after school. Do you want me to take you to his classroom?”
He’s got that fuck shit up look on his face, and I almost feel bad for Mr. Cartwright, but I also love when my man looks so fierce. “Lead the way baby, I have a few things I wanna talk to this guy about.”
Menace
When she mentions the same teacher that Jess had mentioned to me, and the same person I had a talk to the principal about, I want to rage. There’s no way in hell this guy should be allowed to do the things I think he’s doing. Since that first day when the dog hit on his classroom, I’ve had a bad feeling; have wondered if this man is hiding something.
“Here’s his room.” Karina walks us in. “Mr. Cartwright?”
The son of a bitch pops up from behind the counter where the K-9 had indicated.
“I’m Officer Harrison,” I walk over, introducing myself. “There’s been an incident out on the front quad and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
When the guy gets a good look at me, I can tell he hates my guts. Call it intuition or whatever you want to, but immediately I can tell he doesn’t like me. Maybe it’s because he wanted Karina, maybe it’s because he wanted to be a cop at one point in his life and couldn’t swing it. Either way, he’s not impressed.
“I don’t know what I can do to help you. You’re Caleb’s dad, right?”
“That’s right.” And in my head I add don’t even think that you’re going to be fucking up his scholarship, asshole. “Have you noticed anything going on around here, anything out of the ordinary?”
“Can’t say as I have.” He shakes his head. “Kids are ready for Spring Break just like us. Right, Karina?”
She called him Mr. Cartwright, and now he’s using her first name. This shit doesn’t sit well with me at all. “You sure?” I bring his attention back to me. “Are you still waiting for the cheerleaders after they get done with practice?”
His eyes widen and I think I’ve shocked him. He opens his mouth, closes it, and then adjusts the sport coat he’s wearing. “They aren’t practicing right now, Officer Harrison, I have no idea what you’re speaking of.”
Now I’m getting a creepy feeling from him, an intuition that’s never steered me wrong before. Walking over to where he is, I hook my thumbs in my utility belt, looking down at him. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, so don’t play dumb with me. I can’t prove anything, and I can’t put my finger on it, Cartwright, but I think you know more about all of this than you’re letting on. There’s a reason that dog hit on your room, and there’s a reason you were in the girls locker room. I don’t have the answers yet, but I will, and when I do? You’re gonna go down for this.”
“You have a very active imagination Officer, but I can assure you, I’m innocent of what you’re accusing me of.”
“I’m not accusing, only stating facts as I see them. I’ll be watching, Mr. Cartwright.”
“Do whatever you feel like you need to.” He gives me a smile that raises the hairs on my neck.
I’ve been doing this long enough now that I trust my gut, and my gut is telling me to watch this guy.
“Will do, sir.” I hold my hand out for Karina. “C’mon, let’s go to the hospital and make sure Maddox is okay.”
As the two of us walk out of the classroom, I pull my cell from my pocket. “I’m calling Caleb; make sure he doesn’t hear about this through the grapevine. That’s the last thing he needs.” I tap my fingers on my gun belt as I wait for him to answer. When he does, I lean against a locker. “Hey, I got some news, don’t freak out on me…”