Rogue Wolf by Paige Tyler

Chapter 2

Samantha unlocked her office and walked in, letting the quirkiness of the space soothe her aggravated mind and soul. With its light gray color scheme, the room was sleek and modern, like the rest of the Dallas Institute of Forensic Sciences. While the shelves filled with medical journals were fairly standard for a pathologist’s office, it was the other shelving units on the far wall that defined the space. The display cases showcased her collection of antique medical devices and various other medical curiosities, including a human skull saved from a sanitarium where they’d practiced medicine that could only be labeled as barbaric. She kept it as a reminder that psychos could be found wearing all kinds of disguises…including doctor’s garb.

Standing in the middle of her safe zone, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing the urge to throttle somebody.

“Briefing go that badly?”

Samantha turned to see her best friend, coworker, next-door neighbor, and all-around confidant Crystal Mullen in the doorway. Petite with brown eyes and her shoulder-length dark hair in its signature ponytail, Crystal was always there when Samantha needed to vent about something. These days, that was a lot.

When her boss, Louis Russo, said he was assigning her to the serial killer task force, Samantha had been thrilled. Okay, that sounded bad. For a nerd like her who was used to working miles behind the lines, where she barely had a clue what case she was involved in, the chance to team up with the police as they chased down a murderer, uncovering clues and questioning suspects, sounded exciting. Then she’d started going to meetings, and the shine had quickly worn off that particular apple. Now, after only a little more than a week, she dreaded every briefing she was forced to attend and their ability to frustrate her beyond all rational explanation.

“No worse than usual, which is to say horrible,” Samantha admitted, moving over to her minifridge to pull out a bottle of water. She held another up to her friend, but Crystal shook her head. Crystal was a die-hard caffeine addict. Seriously, her friend would wheel around her coffee in an IV stand if Louis let her.

“Let me guess,” Crystal said as she perched on the chair in front of Samantha’s desk. Her friend never actually sat back in the comfortable club chair like a normal person. Probably because she had way too much caffeine in her system. “They’re upset you haven’t already solved the case for them.”

Samantha sat down behind her desk with a sigh. “Pretty much. They didn’t want to hear that I barely had time to do more than an initial assessment of the body found this morning.” Opening the bottle, she took a long drink of water. “Never mind that I was able to establish an approximate time of death and confirm the amputations were accomplished with the same type of saw as the one used in the previous Butcher cases. Or that the cuts were made by the same person, based on the angle and technique involved. I even got samples collected and prepped for DNA profiling and checks against CODIS and NDIS, but that still wasn’t enough for them.”

“Sounds like a lot to me,” Crystal said. “What else were they expecting?”

Samantha shrugged, relaxing back in her chair and lazily swiveling from side to side. “I think they’re all waiting for the wow factor to kick in like all those CSI shows on TV. You know, where they collect and profile DNA, then a computer spits out a name before the first commercial break? They don’t want to hear this killer chooses his victims specifically because they aren’t in the system and that he’s too meticulous to leave behind any hair, fiber, or blood evidence. And because I know the killer is a man from the size and depth of his boot prints, they think I should be able to track those boots to a specific store and found out who bought them. But I can’t do that because it doesn’t work that way.” She sighed. “I know they’re just trying to catch this guy, but so am I. But when there’s no evidence, there’s no evidence.”

“Maybe I can find something to make the task force happy,” Crystal said.

“Let’s hope,” Samantha replied.

Crystal was a forensic technician at the lab, working on a little bit of everything, but concentrating mostly on latent prints and tool marks. Before coming to work at the institute, Samantha never would have thought there’d be a call for someone to do that full time, but Dallas was a busy city when it came to crime. Crystal could work overtime for the rest of her life and never catch up with the backlog of cases that needed her expertise.

Samantha was about to ask Crystal if she wanted to start going over the body together when footsteps outside her office interrupted her.

“Senior Corporal Duncan,” she said with a smile even as Crystal snapped her head around to see who was at the door. “Come in.”

Trey and the other three officers with him from the SWAT team exchanged looks before stepping inside. Her office wasn’t small by any means, but with the four very large cops in there, it suddenly seemed much harder to breathe.

Or maybe that was simply a side effect of being so close to Trey.

Samantha would be the first to admit she and Trey had been bouncing around in each other’s orbits ever since she’d responded to a crime scene involving the SWAT team and found a handful of dead criminals who’d supposedly been mauled by wild coyotes in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Her experiences with the team had only gotten stranger from there. To say that they weren’t quite normal was an understatement.

Okay, so maybe her intellectual curiosity wasn’t the only reason she’d spent most of the past year and a half stalking Trey. With that square jaw, intense blue eyes, and perfect amount of scruff, the man was extremely attractive. Not to mention the fact that he looked amazing in the dark blue tactical uniform. But there was more to it than that. Simply put, there was something about him that mesmerized her every time she was around him. His presence at the Audubon center this morning had made it damn hard to focus on her work, that was for sure. Even with a headless corpse there to distract her.

The funny thing was, she wasn’t surprised at all to see him and his teammates here in her office today. In fact, since hearing that it had been Trey and his fellow SWAT officers who’d actually found the body, she’d been pretty much expecting a visit from them. Just like back in mid-June, when they’d inserted themselves in the middle of that delirium drug thing…which really hadn’t been a drug thing at all. When things got weird in Dallas, SWAT was going to be there.

Realizing she’d yet to make any introductions, Samantha quickly did so. Trey did the same, introducing Connor, Trevor, and Hale, though she could have easily introduced them herself since she had files on every member of the SWAT team. Crystal was well aware of Samantha’s fascination with all things SWAT—and Trey in particular—so it was no surprise when her friend came up with an excuse to leave, saying she needed to start working on the body Samantha had brought in earlier.

“Normally, I’d ask what brought four of Dallas’s finest down to my office,” Samantha said as she moved around the side of the desk and sat on the edge to study the four men, “but since you showed up minutes after I got done briefing the task force—and you were also at the crime scene this morning—I’m assuming your visit is related to the Butcher.”

Trey glanced at his teammates, who returned the look, as if saying your call.

“You’re right. It is.” Trey gave her a smile, flashing the most perfect dimples. “We’re hoping you might be able to tell us a little about the case.”

Samantha had to fight the urge to return his smile. Damn, when Trey put on the charm, it was scary how badly she wanted to walk over there, climb him like a sloth, and start coming up with names for their future children. But she fought off the desire. Besides, she didn’t need to think about names. She had all four of them picked out a few days after meeting the hunky cop. No, she needed to play this cool and use the situation to get what she wanted.

“I really don’t think I should be talking to the four of you about the Butcher case since none of you are on the task force,” she said.

Trey smiled again, his eyes holding hers captive. “I know we’re not on the task force, but we’re asking anyway.”

“And why is that?”

He crossed his arms over his broad chest, treating her to a pair of biceps she couldn’t have gotten both hands around if she tried. And boy, would she like to try. “Do you remember what I said to you back in June to get you to help us with that delirium case?”

That had been two months ago, so Samantha had to really think about it to come up with what part of the conversation he was talking about. Most of her memories were of the stunningly attractive Trey Duncan practically begging for her help on that case and her feeling badly about not being able to offer up anything.

“I remember you said you needed my help because you and the rest of the SWAT team were the ones who had to deal with the people you thought were on some drug called delirium and that you needed to understand what you were up against.”

Trey gave her another distracting smile. “Exactly.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

Samantha thought back to the delirium case. Was there some kind of connection to the current serial killer terrorizing the city? She couldn’t see how that was possible. The two men responsible for those crimes had something in their DNA that allowed them to turn people into puppets and control their minds simply by wiping their blood on their victims. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to figure out exactly what was in their DNA, and while the Butcher might be scary as hell, she hadn’t found anything to make her think he wasn’t a regular human.

Unless…

“Wait a minute,” she said, her mind starting to spin at a hundred miles an hour. What had she just said to herself only a few minutes ago? When things got weird in Dallas, SWAT was going to be there. “Are you saying the Butcher isn’t a normal killer? That he’s different like the men responsible for making all those people do things against their will are different?”

Another look passed between the big cops before Trevor, Connor, and Hale all seem to pass some kind of unspoken signal to Trey. Only then did he nod.

“We noticed something at the body dump this morning that makes us think the person who dragged the body there wasn’t a normal human. Don’t ask me to explain what that something was because I can’t tell you, and you wouldn’t believe me if I did. I simply need you to trust me.”

Samantha almost said to hell with it. If they didn’t want to tell her anything, why should she tell them anything? It was her butt on the line if her boss found out. But then she looked at Trey and realized there was no way she could say no to him. He was like her own personal brand of kryptonite.

“Okay.” She leveled her gaze at Trey. “Same deal as before. I’ll tell you everything I have on the Butcher, but you personally owe me a favor.”

Trey’s mouth edged up, the twinkle in his eyes making her a little weak in the knees. “You know, you still haven’t collected on the first favor I owe you.”

She smiled up at him. “Maybe I’ll just keep collecting them so I can use them all at once.”

He chuckled, the husky sound doing crazy things to her pulse. Beside him, she caught the smiles on his teammates’ faces.

“Deal,” Trey answered with a dip of his chin. “One favor for anything you have on the Butcher right now and anything you might find on him in the future.”

It wasn’t a shock he’d try to weasel a little extra information out of her, but she’d already made up her mind to tell him as much as she could. Partly because she had a thing for Trey and partly because she already believed there was something strange going on with this serial killer case. She had no idea what it might be, but it could explain why they had so many victims and still no serious clues about who the killer was or why he was mutilating them.

“I guess I should start by admitting we don’t have a whole hell of a lot on the killer, even with all the emphasis the chief is putting on the task force,” she said. “What I can tell you is that this guy is no random slasher. Most of the cuts on the bodies were professional and surgical in nature, without a single sign of hesitation or doubt. On top of that, I found signs of arteries and veins being tied off prior to some of the amputations, along with indications that some of the victims were still alive when the killer did it. Believe it or not, keeping someone alive while you dismember them is actually rather difficult.”

“And sick,” Trey muttered. “So what you’re saying is that we’re dealing with a doctor of some kind. Or at least someone who went through a good portion of medical school.”

“Which means we’re not talking about a small pool of potential suspects,” Connor added with a frown. “Especially if we include everyone who was kicked out or dropped out of med school.”

“It definitely isn’t a short list,” Samantha said. “Unfortunately, the situation is even more complicated than that. Like I said. Most of the cuts were clean and precise. But there were others, namely the ones at the neck and wrists, that were quite ragged. They were basically hack jobs.”

That earned her a grimace or two from Trey and his friends.

“So what are you saying? That there are two killers working together?” Trevor asked, clearly surprised. “I never heard of serial killers teaming up.”

Samantha shrugged. “Me, either. I wish I could say for sure there are two killers, but I can’t. Some people on the task force think there are, while others insist it’s one guy and that the less precise cuts are because he loses control and goes completely psychotic.”

Trey grimaced. “Any connections between the victims yet? Or how the killer selects his targets?”

When she admitted the answer to both of those questions was no, Trey and his teammates were clearly surprised they hadn’t identified any of the victims yet, much less establish a serious connection between the men.

“So far, the only thing we can say for sure about the victims is that they’re all in their late twenties to midthirties, in good shape, over six feet tall, and weigh more than two hundred and thirty pounds,” she said. “And before you ask, no we’re not sure if this is significant in some way or simply a coincidence.”

Trey and his teammates seemed more than ready to keep grilling her for information about the case, but just then, all four of them got odd looks on their faces, then turned as one to face the door. Samantha was just about to ask what the heck they were doing when she heard footsteps in the hallway. A few moments later, her boss walked in with two of her coworkers.

“Samantha.” Her boss eyed Trey and his teammates curiously from behind his wire-rimmed glasses before looking at her. “We were walking by and heard you talking to someone. I didn’t realize anyone from the task force was still here.”

How many more people were going to try to squeeze into her office? The room had been crowded before with the four large cops, but now it was nearly claustrophobic. “These officers aren’t with the task force. They’re here to tie up a few loose ends on a case from back in June.” Before her boss could ask which case, she quickly made the introductions. “Officers, this is Louis Russo, the chief medical examiner. And this is Hugh Olsen and Nadia Payne, two of my fellow assistant MEs.”

Her gray-haired boss immediately reached out to shake hands with Trey and his teammates as she continued with the introductions. Hugh merely nodded stiffly in greeting while Nadia offered them a cool smile. No surprise there.

While Samantha loved working with Louis, who was a brilliant pathologist, a willing mentor, and completely above the politics that sometimes made working in the ME’s office a pain in the butt, she couldn’t say the same about Hugh and Nadia. They were both smart and capable at their jobs, but spending so much time among the dead had made them cold and detached. Almost like they didn’t know how to interact with the living anymore. The only time either of them pretended to care was when Louis was around to see it. To say they’d been pissed when Louis had assigned Samantha to the Butcher task force was putting it mildly. The way they saw it, this was the kind of case that could catapult their careers to the next level and put them directly in line for chief ME when Louis left. The fact that there were people actually dying out there thanks to this psychopath didn’t seem to register with them at all. Hugh, in particular, had campaigned heavily for the assignment, and when Louis gave it to Samantha, he’d nearly exploded. Since then, he never let a chance to bash Samantha pass him by. Nadia was more circumspect about it but equally bitter. Luckily, Louis never listened to their crap.

The moment Hugh and Nadia figured out they weren’t going to be able to undermine Samantha—or hear anything about the serial killer case—they both left her office, mumbling something about needing to catch up on paperwork. Louis left soon after they did, asking Samantha to stop by his office before she left for the day so they could go over whatever she had learned from the Butcher’s latest victim.

Thirty seconds later, Connor, Hale, and Trevor headed for the door, too, saying they’d be waiting out by the truck. And just like that, Samantha found herself left alone with Trey. It occurred to her then that it was the first time that had ever happened.

“Not very subtle, are they?” Samantha asked with a soft laugh.

Getting to her feet, she moved closer, mesmerized by the way his presence still seemed to fill the room even with only the two of them in it. Samantha found it impossible not to stare up at him. To say he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen was an understatement.

“No, I guess they aren’t,” Trey murmured, gazing down at her, his low, sexy voice drawing her in even closer. “Sorry we chased off your coworkers like that.”

“Did you hear me complaining?” she countered. “Anything that gets me out of talking to Hugh and Nadia is all good in my book.”

Trey snorted, his lips curving into a smile. Samantha had an overwhelming urge to rub her face against his like a cat just so she could feel that scruff on his chiseled jaw against her skin.

“Yeah, I couldn’t help but pick up on the bad vibe between you and those two,” he said. “If you want to use up one of those favors, I happen to have a few friends in the federal government. I could have them sniff around their background, see if Hugh cheats on his taxes or Nadia hacks into her neighbor’s Netflix account.”

Samantha was too caught up in Trey’s blue eyes to answer right away. Sometimes they seemed darker in color, like the sky at night. Other times, they reminded her of the sky on a sunny day. She wondered if it was possible for eyes to change color like that, to lighten and darken with one’s mood. Maybe she should ask for permission to lay on his chest for a few hours to study them just to see if she was right.

But while lying atop Trey certainly sounded like fun, Samantha realized maybe she needed to start with something a little less familiar.

“If I’m going to use up one of my favors,” she said softly, keenly aware of Trey leaning in even more, then closing his eyes and inhaling. Like he was trying to breathe in her scent. “It wouldn’t be for snooping into either of their backgrounds.”

“What would you use it on then?” he asked, lifting his gaze to hers. Oh yeah, his eyes definitely darkened a bit more, like the ocean in the middle of a storm.

Inspiration hit then, and Samantha didn’t even pause to wonder if she should do it or not.

“I’d use it to have you take me out to dinner,” she said before she could come to her senses and chicken out.

From the way Trey gaped, Samantha could tell she’d thrown the big cop for a loop. Fear and doubt immediately started creeping in, making her think she’d royally screwed up. Maybe Trey was one of those men who was more comfortable doing the asking instead of being asked. She didn’t like to think someone who was clearly so strong and confident would be insecure over something like that. But maybe she’d read him all wrong.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” he said, and she was relieved when she saw a spark of interest there in those mesmerizing eyes. Like he suddenly found a game he unequivocally liked.

She stepped closer, smiling as his eyes darkened again. “Actually, I’m using one of my favors to have you ask me out. That way, I can be progressive and traditional at the same time. That doesn’t bother you, does it?”

He grinned, his expression making her pulse skip a beat. “Definitely not. I’m a huge fan of progressive traditions. Dinner tomorrow night work for you?”

She had to force herself not to pump her fist in excitement. “It does.”

“Good. Should I pick you up at your place? Say seven o’clock.”

She nodded, then watched in disappointment as he turned and headed for the door. Not that seeing him from behind was a bad view or anything.

“Hey,” she called before he disappeared into the hallway. “I didn’t give you my address.”

Trey paused long enough to give her another one of those smiles that turned her knees to Jell-O. “At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I already know where you live.”

He was out the door before Samantha could say whether it made him seem like a stalker or not. But in all honesty, it wasn’t like she could complain very much since she already knew where he lived, too.