Crystal shook her head in exasperation. “The coyote thing again?”
“It’s more than that and you know it.” Samantha caught her friend’s eye in the mirror. “The list of unexplainable crap SWAT has been involved in boggles the mind. There was that crime boss who got all clawed up at the airport, then those Albanian mobsters who said some kind of creatures attacked them. And don’t even get me started on that naked SWAT cop in the middle of a blood-spattered crime scene. Or that blood sample I thought was his. I still haven’t figured out what happened to it.”
Crystal rolled her eyes. “You mean the sample that came back contaminated with animal DNA?”
Samantha had been sure she’d get something useful from the sample she’d collected at the black market organ-harvesting operation, but the lab she’d sent it to claimed it was contaminated and had destroyed it. Crystal had ribbed her for months about it.
“Yes, that one,” Samantha replied, ignoring the smirk on her friend’s face. “Toss in the wolves people claim to have seen running around crime scenes where SWAT just so happens to also be, the city’s former chief of police trying to assassinate them, and mysterious federal agents scooping up suspects after SWAT has arrested them, and you can’t tell me all that doesn’t make you the least bit curious.”
Crystal’s dark gaze was assessing. “Sure, I’m curious. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to play games with a guy I’m interested in on the off chance I might learn a few secrets. I don’t mess with other people that way.”
The accusation hit a little too close to home and Samantha saw herself blush in the mirror. Her conscience had already spent the past few days berating the hell out of her for what she was doing. “It’s not like that. I’m not playing games with Trey.”
“Really?” Crystal asked, her expression downright dubious. “Here’s a simple question then: Is this thing tonight a date or part of your investigation?”
Samantha fussed with the big, bouncy curls she’d put in the ends of her long, blond hair. “Can’t it be both?” she asked after delaying as long as she could.
“No, it can’t.” Crystal sighed. “Look, if you’re going out with Trey Duncan because he’s a sexy guy and you have the hots for him, that’s one thing. But if you’re going to dinner with him tonight because you think it’ll help you dig up all his secrets, that’s another. They’re mutually exclusive and it’s screwed up. Not to mention something the friend I thought I knew would ever do.”
The air left her lungs all at once, and before she knew it, Samantha found herself sitting on the edge of her bed, Crystal down on her knees in front of her, asking if she was okay.
“Yeah.” Samantha nodded even as she struggled to get over her minor panic attack. “It’s just that…I don’t have a clue what the hell I’m doing. Sometimes, I am so attracted to Trey that it’s hard to breathe when he’s around. But at the same time, I know he and the other members of his SWAT team are hiding something huge. I don’t what or how coyotes and wolves play into all of it, but I know it’s something big. And you know I don’t deal well with secrets. So I’m stuck between wanting this thing with Trey to work out and wanting to figure out what they’re hiding.”
Crystal shook her head in exasperation. “And you’re not worried that going for the latter will destroy any chance of the former?”
Samantha shrugged. “I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
Frowning, Crystal opened her mouth to say something, but the ringing of the doorbell interrupted her. A glance at the clock showed that it was seven o’clock. Trey was right on time.
With a sigh, her friend stood, pulling Samantha up with her. “Well, I think you’re crazy. If I had someone like Trey interested in me, I’d do everything I could to make sure he stayed that way. But if this is how you want to do things, I guess I’ll just wish you luck. And hope you don’t end up regretting this plan.”
“I hope I don’t, either,” Samantha said.
* * *
“Wait a second. What do you mean, it was destroyed?” Samantha asked as the hostess at the grill and bar showed them to their booth. “Why would someone destroy your truck?”
The woman gave them a curious glance before telling them to enjoy their dinner, then leaving them to look over the menus. North of the city center in the Greenville area, the restaurant had lots of exposed wood and bare light bulbs strung along the ceiling in a way that surprisingly worked with the decor. Samantha had never eaten there, but Trey assured her they had the best burgers and cheese fries in town. If the aromas coming from the kitchen were any indication, he was right.
Admittedly, Samantha had been amazed at how relaxed she’d been on the drive across town. After her conversation with Crystal, she’d expected to be a little tense, but within minutes of getting into his new silver Jeep Gladiator and discovering they both loved that wonderful new-car smell, it felt like they’d known each other for years. Trey had totally floored her when he said he bought the pickup because his 1990 Ford Bronco had been destroyed. Samantha knew SWAT got involved in crazy stuff, but that was a story she simply had to hear.
“You remember when those guys attacked Diego in the parking lot outside the SWAT compound back in June?” Trey asked, glancing at the menu. “The ones we thought were high on delirium?”
Samantha remembered it very well. She’d gotten there less than thirty minutes after the shootout to find four dead assailants, their bodies still warm. There’d been a lot of confusion at the time about what had happened, but she definitely remembered it had seemed like a war zone to her inexperienced eyes. In fact, one of the vehicles in the parking lot had been ripped to shreds from all the gunfire.
“Crap.” She gasped, suddenly realizing the implications. “That shot-up vehicle in the lot was yours?”
Trey nodded sadly. “Yup. Diego swore he didn’t pick my vehicle to hide behind on purpose, but I think he’s being less than honest since he’s been hounding me forever to get a new truck. Regardless, he did, and it was totally destroyed. Every window was broken, all the tires were flat, and the engine block got turned into swiss cheese. My insurance payoff barely covered the cost of towing it to the junkyard. But on the bright side, it finally got me off my butt and into a vehicle made in this century.”
Samantha couldn’t help laughing. How anyone could find a silver lining in having their car shot up was beyond her, but the fact that Trey could was another indication of how amazing he was. Even if he failed to mention at least one of those men who’d attacked Diego Martinez back in June had somehow ended up with their throats torn out by some kind of claws.
“Since you’ve eaten here before, what do you recommend?” she asked, turning her attention to the menu.