Out of the corner of his eye, Diego caught sight of Conner’s jaw dropping. On the other side of him, Hale’s eyes went a little wide. Diego was as stunned as they were. He hadn’t heard Trey string together this many deeply profound words since he’d known him. From the expression on the ME’s face, Trey’s plea definitely had the intended effect. Besides the fact that her heart was racing, her eyes were full of emotion, and her lips were slightly parted. Like she wanted to kiss Trey right there in front of all of them.
Apparently, Trey had better game than any of his teammates had realized. And all it had taken to bring it out was a woman who handled dead bodies for a living. But far be it from Diego to judge his friend for that.
“He’s telling the truth,” Diego said when the silence continued to stretch to the point of being uncomfortable. “Those men I faced at the SWAT compound were like robots. They were completely focused on seeing me dead and unconcerned if they ended up getting killed in the process. If there’s anything you can tell us that will help—anything at all—we’d really appreciate it.”
Her gaze went from Trey to Diego and back to his pack mate. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything I know, though it probably isn’t as much as you’d like. But I’m not going to do it for free.”
Diego glanced at his teammates to see that they seemed as confused as he was. “What do you want in return for the information? It can’t be money since you probably make more than the four of us combined.”
Her lips curved. “I don’t want money. I want a favor.”
Well, he hadn’t expected that.
“While we might be able to help you with a speeding ticket or parking fine, it’s not like we can kill someone for you. Or dispose of a body, either,” Trey said. “You know that, right?”
Dr. Mills tilted her head to the side, eyeing Trey with what looked like amusement on her face. “I’m a medical examiner. If I wanted someone dead or a body dissolved down to the consistency of soft Jell-O, I could do it myself.”
Diego wasn’t sure whether to be relieved at that announcement or not.
“Don’t worry,” she added. “I promise I won’t ask any of you to do anything illegal. Well, not any sketchier than the stuff you already do. And before you even try and deny it, I’ve been the ME on at least two dozen SWAT crime scenes. I know you guys play fast and loose with the truth when it suits you.”
Hale and Connor looked as worried by that admission as he was. Trey, on the other hand, was gazing at the pretty blond doctor with an expression of pure adoration. Yup. Werewolf puppy love, for sure.
“One favor,” Trey agreed. “But from me, not anyone else on the SWAT team. That way, if it is something illegal, I’m the only one on the hook.”
Samantha Mills didn’t even have to think about it before she nodded. “The task force has statements from the suspects your team managed to capture alive. They all remembered exactly what they were doing right before the crimes down to the last little detail. They were out doing normal, everyday stuff up until the moment they decided to go on a crime spree.”
Diego couldn’t help wondering how much of that was due to lawyers whispering in their ears, trying to create a defense for their clients by confusing the issue.
“It’s after they committed the crimes that things get interesting,” Dr. Mills continued. “The detectives working the case said none of the suspects remember how they got to the scenes where they committed those crimes, what they did there, or why they did it. A few of them said it was as if they were watching themselves do what they did from a distance, while the rest said everything was a complete blank. Like an alcoholic blackout.”
“Do you think that’s even possible?” Connor asked. “Blacking out in the middle of committing a crime, I mean.”
“I’ve never heard of it before, but it could be possible,” she admitted. “According to the detectives who talked to the suspects, they were terrified out of their minds when they realized they’d committed horrible crimes they have no memory of doing that were going to put them in prison for years.”
“Do you think the delirium theory is right and some kind of drug is making these people behave