This wasn’t a normal situation, but that didn’t matter. It was all me.
Milo had called, said she needed a rush on some new tests on the most recent body, and since I was the closest to the lab, it was on me to get it done. Police had called in late, putting an urgent rush on the tests. I agreed, because what choice did I have?
I remembered when the body came in. Even though she was dead, she was beautiful.
Her family had come through, asking to see her.
I also noticed her ring. I mean, Milo had noticed, too. It was swabbed before it was taken in for evidence, but it was a serious rock. Whoever loved this girl really loved her. The dude had money, but he hadn’t been with the family when they came in.
A pair of parents. The mom was stiff. The dad, too. They’d just stood there, looking at her. The little brother broke my heart. He was maybe in high school? He’d fallen apart, and then they’d left.
No one else had showed up since, so the lab was dark and closed when I went back.
I scanned my badge, went in, and went to the back room to put my stuff down. I was coming back out with my lab coat on and my hair pulled back when I heard the voices.
“—no one to know.”
Oh. Fuck.
I had already come through the first door by the time I realized what I was walking into. Through the doors, through the window, I could see Benjamin. His head was down, and he was very much not at a wedding. He wore street clothes, and there were three others with him.
“Hey!”
I turned, seeing who had spoken.
A big guy stood just inside the front door with a gun. A gun?! What the what? And he was seriously large. As I watched, another guy stepped around him, and he was like the dude, 2.0. They were both goliaths, and both with guns.
Holy exclamation point! What is going on here?
“Car.” Benjamin came toward me from the other room, looking me up and down. “What are you doing here? You’re clocked out for the night.”
My mouth was on the floor. I mean, my eyebrows and my heart were on the ceiling, but everything else had bottomed out. “Those guys have guns,” I whispered.
“I know.”
There was no shock on his face. He totally knew, which he’d just said. Right. I needed to catch up here. Then the door opened behind him, and holy mother of all Toledo, the most gorgeous guy came in. Tall. Dark hair. Some seriously luscious facial features. He was pretty and hot and dangerous, and he had guys with him who had guns. OMG!
He stepped around Benjamin, assessing me.
I could tell this dude was the shit. He was smart. Obviously had money if he had guys with guns at the ready, and well, I guess that meant he was dangerous, too. Why were they here? This wasn’t a Jason Bourne movie.
“Carson? Carson Dayley?” he asked.
I flushed. “Yes, and please don’t make a joke. It’s not my fault that dude got famous and I didn’t.”
His eyebrows moved together, but that was his only reaction. Maybe he didn’t know pop culture. Score for me, if he didn’t.
“My brother’s fiancée came in earlier,” he said. “She was murdered, and he was there. We’ve not had contact with her family as to whether they wanted him to see her with them. He wanted to say his goodbyes. That’s all.”
Right. But it was shady. No one who wasn’t shady had two guards with him, and these guys were the real deal. I could tell fake guns from real guns. My cousin Toby once had our other two cousins carry fake guns so he could get into a poker game. I’d never asked for details. I didn’t want to know. The fake guns alone gave me the heebie-jeebies.
“Ms. Dayley?”
Right. Focus. The hot dude seemed like he was waiting for me to give him the go-ahead.
Also, I needed to stop thinking the word ‘right.’
Then I remembered that Benjamin didn’t have the new set of keys. The locks had literally been installed today.
I shot him a look. “You dumbass. You faked the new tests so Milo would get me in here, didn’t you?”
“What? No. But I mean, it is karmic that you came in.” He pulled his keys out. “They don’t work.”
I huffed, already knowing what I was going to do. Who was I to stand in the way of a grieving fiancé?
I moved forward, and the hottie stepped aside. He hadn’t given his name. Pretty sure that was on purpose, but then I was into the next room and holy… I was having a full déjà vu moment because I was wrong. The hottie behind me wasn’t God’s gift to women. I mean, he was up there. Along with the blond, tousled hair and scowling face, and he had some dark energy around him. But he was just handsome. The other one, though?
The other one made me literally forget how to walk as he looked my way, but he wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were empty.
He was—this was the fiancé.
I sucked in my breath. My stomach clenched, and it was as if I’d been bombarded by his agony, because I could see that’s what he was in. Pure torture. He was twisted up on the inside, but my God, he still took my breath away.
Tall. He had a young look to him. He looked like someone who would row crew.
The other two were tan. The blond was a little paler, but this one had either a warm tan or his skin was a lighter shade of brown. There was a darker undertone than the others’, and he had full lips with dark hair cut super short, a fade on the side. He was in a dark sweatshirt, the hood pulled up. For a moment his eyes flashed, flickering on and seeing me, but then he receded into memories and pain, and his gaze clouded over again.
My hands shook because I swear, I could feel his pain, and it was unbearable. “Excuse me,” I said softly, stepping forward and going around to her door.
I put the key in and unlocked the chamber, but I didn’t pull her out.
I turned, now standing so close to this guy. He hadn’t moved back, but he needed to know. They all did.
“When I—”
He rasped out, “I know. She’ll be uncovered so no evidence was tainted.”
Okay. The guy knew police protocol.
“We haven’t finished her autopsy,” I explained. “We were waiting for her—”
He looked at me, his eyes finding mine, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even swallow.
“I know,” he said softly.
I nodded and stepped aside.
He was the one who rolled his shoulders back, reached forward, and pulled her out.
I couldn’t be here. This was his time to say goodbye.
“Take your time,” I murmured for only him to hear. “The ring was bagged. I’m sorry. The cops took it.”
I left, not wanting to see the extra dose of sadness I’d just poured over him. I took Benjamin with me. I kept a firm hold on him, not stopping until we were back in the staff quarters. Once the door was shut, he twisted his arm free.
I let him go.
“What the hell, Car?”
“You leave them alone.”
He smirked. “Look at you, all being down with—”
“Shut up. Not one fucking word.” I pointed out the door. “That’s family saying goodbye to family. You won’t take one dime from them, you hear me?”
Anger tightened his face. “What? You can’t—”
“You take one dime, and I’m reporting you to Milo. I don’t give a fuck what that’ll do to me, too.”