“Then how do you explain what you’ve discovered with the samples?”
“I can’t.” She sighed. “Which is why I’ve hidden the results from Louis and everyone else. I only hope it doesn’t affect the DNA profiling. If we can match these blood samples to someone already in the system, we’ll have the killer.”
They talked for a while longer about the evidence collected at the preserve, Samantha admitting she’d been getting ready to examine the body parts Connor and the others had found before Trey had shown up with dinner. Trey seemed to take that as a sign she needed to get back to work. He wasn’t wrong, but Samantha still hated to see him leave.
“Hey, before you go,” she said as they got to their feet. “We didn’t get a chance to talk, but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed last night.”
Mouth quirking, Trey casually rested his hands on her hips, sending her heart rate soaring with that simple touch. “Last night? Oh, you mean running around the woods collecting blood samples? Yeah, that was fun, wasn’t it?”
She slapped him in the chest, only remembering his broken ribs after the fact. Not that he seemed to care. “No, I don’t mean running around the woods collecting blood samples, you eejit. I was talking about earlier at my apartment. In my bed.”
He chuckled. “I know what you meant.” He stepped closer until all Samantha could see was his broad chest and those powerful arms, his low, rumbling voice making her shiver a little. “And yes, I enjoyed last night, too. More than I could ever say. It was special beyond words.”
Feeling exactly the same way, Samantha went up on her toes, dragging his mouth down at the same time for a kiss she simply couldn’t go another minute without. She moaned at the electric tingles running all over her body from that simply contact, suddenly wishing they were anywhere but in her office.
It hit her then that this had moved well past the falling stage at some point when she wasn’t looking and was now hovering dangerously close to the L-word, leaving her to wonder when the hell that transition had happened. Was it the sex? It seemed likely, since she’d never had orgasms that good in her life. But even as that thought popped into her head, she knew it wasn’t just about sex. The moment things between them had changed so drastically was well after the bedroom gymnastics. It had been when she’d been sitting in Trey’s truck all alone, terrified out of her mind for him.
“I didn’t realize how scared I was until I heard that howl coming out of the woods,” Samantha murmured, not realizing she’d said the words out loud until she looked up and discovered Trey was gazing down at her, his face full of concern. “It was so loud that I could hear it right through the windows. I started freaking out then, knowing you were out there on your own. I had the door open and was running through the woods before I even knew what I was doing. It was insane, and I can’t even begin to explain what the hell made me think I could find you in that pitch-black forest, but I couldn’t leave you out there on your own. Something inside wouldn’t let me sit there and do nothing.”
Trey’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her to his chest and hugging her tightly. He made gentle shushing sounds and little relaxing circular motions on her back with his hand. “You don’t have to explain it. I completely understand. When you showed up with the guys, I nearly lost my mind. I can’t believe you did something as crazy as come into the woods after me. But then I realized I couldn’t expect you to leave me behind any more than I would have left you behind.”
If his admission of how worried he’d been hadn’t melted her into a gooey puddle, the kiss he gave her would have. Gazing up at him afterward, thoroughly kissed and thrilled at the knowledge that this thing between them wasn’t one-sided, Samantha decided then and there that it was time to tell him everything. Yes, it had the potential to blow everything up in their faces, but she needed to tell him now. Before it was too late.
Then Louis walked in the door.
“Officer Duncan,” he said warmly, ignoring the fact that she and Trey had been in each other’s arms a moment ago, clearly in the middle of making out. But her boss was cool that way. “I heard someone up front say you were here and thought I’d check to see how you’re doing.”
Trey exchanged looks with her before giving Louis a frown. “How I’m doing?”
“Yes.” Louis reached up to adjust his glasses, eyeing Trey up and down like he was a corpse on his exam table. “I heard someone say you got into a physical altercation with the Butcher. One of the techs who was at the crime scene last night said you were so beat up, you could barely stand up straight.”
Trey chuckled. “I think that might be an exaggeration. It wasn’t anything more than a few bumps and bruises. Nothing a couple of ibuprofen couldn’t fix.”
Louis nodded. “Well, that’s good to hear.” He looked to Samantha. “Don’t stay too late. After last night, you must be exhausted. The Butcher will wait until tomorrow.”
Giving Trey a nod, Louis walked out, leaving them alone.
“You want to get together tonight?” Trey asked, giving her a smile. “I promise to have you in bed at a decent hour.”
She laughed. “I like the way you think. But let’s go to your place instead. I haven’t even seen it yet. Unless you live in a van by the river, of course.”
He chuckled and kissed her again, promising that he did, in fact, have a place nicer than a van by the river. “I’ll text you my address.”
Another kiss and he was out the door. Promising herself she’d tell him everything that night, Samantha grabbed her lab coat from the coat rack and slipped into it. If she wanted to get out of there at a decent hour, she needed to get to work.
The institute was nearly empty as she walked toward the lab. Not all of the assistant MEs had their own labs, but the senior ones like her, Hugh, and Nadia did. It was nice having a room set up exactly the way she liked it—with equipment and supplies arranged so she could find everything quickly—and knowing she didn’t have to worry about anyone messing with stuff.
She spent the next hour on the dismembered leg, taking pictures, weighing, and measuring it, recording all the details in the institute’s digital forensic database. Photos were uploaded automatically, but everything else had to be manually entered into descriptive forms that went along with every photo. It took forever, but once it was in, the computer system made it easy to bring up anything she wanted.
Samantha found very familiar burn scars on the leg, making her almost certain it had belonged to the same victim as the leg she collected Monday morning out by the homeless camp. That would make this the first time a second part had been found from the same person. She wasn’t sure why yet, but she knew it was significant.
It wasn’t until she started working on the arm that she found something that might finally help them find the Butcher—a tattoo of a winged horse, with five stars arranged above it and a six digit number below. This thing wasn’t some generic I love Mom ink. No, this was super original and specific. For the first time since the investigation started, she had a distinctive mark that should make ID’ing the person the arm came from a slam dunk.