The whispering grew louder, he was telling her how much he loved her, how special she was, how he’d never felt anything like this before, and as he finally reached the end, losing all of himself into her, his mouth sought hers again for a last kiss, and she felt like their souls were on fire.

She was lost.

Lost in the sensations—of being loved, of being touched, of the newness, of feeling his hard, tight body in her arms. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted this to go on forever.

He rose, the weight of his body no longer pinning her to the bed.

“Sleep now. I must go. I love you.”

She rolled, catching the pillow, pulled it to her as if it were her lover. Drew her legs up until she was fetal, the pulsing of her desire still coursing through her veins, making her muscles twitch.

Dear God, she had no idea it would be like that with him.

She was so tired.

“Why were you outside?”

He didn’t answer, and the words died on her lips.

Sleep took her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Sam’s day in the autopsy suite was finally over. Things had gone relatively smoothly, considering how shorthanded she was. There had been eight guests today, which meant they’d had to rotate the bodies in and out in shifts.

There’d been a small mishap when one of the techs had nicked an aorta, and the chest cavity of the man he was working on had filled with blood, sending Sam and another tech rushing for a ladle and a plastic pint container so they could save the aortic blood for the samples, but, overall, nothing terribly out of the ordinary.

Toxicology had come back on Marias González. Sadly, the final autopsy findings showed the woman had been in very good health. She would have lived many more fruitful years had she not been mown down in the middle of the street.

Untimely death always saddened Sam. Lord knows she saw enough of it in this town. Drugs and gangs and prostitutes; the natural but unattended deaths of an aging society; accidents; suicides and murders. There was nothing that didn’t cross her table. She certainly knew she hadn’t seen it all, but she’d seen enough. Having children of her own had changed her perspective, given her more compassion for the families who came to Forensic Medical to identify their loved ones. She still had a great deal of detachment, but being best friends with Taylor, seeing the insanity that seemed to follow her, Sam had an appreciation for life that she wasn’t sure she’d had before.

Almost dying did that to a girl.

Which brought her full circle. She was still so mad at Taylor. What was she thinking, kissing Memphis? That was going to lead someplace very bad. And then Sam would be caught in the middle. Damn it, she had her own problems to deal with.

She had a stack of paperwork to attend to before she left for the day. She settled in—signing orders, signing off on yesterday’s autopsies, finding a good rhythm. The stack grew smaller. She might make beef stew for dinner, something warm and hearty. She used to have time to make bread, but with the kids being so little, that was always hard.

Bam. The loss hit her like a hammer to the temple.

She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, waited for the wave of intense longing to pass.

It was amazing how the mind worked. She didn’t need to see a child on the street, or think of a baby. Something as mundane as the idea of not being able to make bread brought it all back.

The knife sliding into her flesh, the cramping, the sheer horror of knowledge.

She was a doctor. She knew exactly what that knife had done. She’d winced when she dissected Marias González’s womb, knowing that’s what hers looked like, so small and inconsequential, so vastly empty.

The blade had sliced the anterior edge away, just there.

God, she was going to have to go see Taylor’s shrink if she couldn’t get her head wrapped around this.

Keri McGee appeared in her doorway, knocked softly on the wood. “Did you hear? About the standoff?”

Sam was grateful for the distraction. “What standoff?” she asked.

“Turn on your television.”

Sam grabbed the remote from the coffee cup she usually left it in and powered up her TV.

“Hit WSMV, they’ve got the best camera angle,” Keri said. “But it’s on everywhere.”

Sam inputted channel four and sat back in her chair. A breaking news banner was on the bottom of the screen, it read: Serial Bank Robber Suspect in Standoff with Metro Police. A raven-haired reporter was speaking into the microphone. Sam recognized the backdrop. They were in Belle Meade, by the country club. It looked like they were on Chickering Road, right near where she grew up.

“Shit.” Sam pulled the phone toward her and dialed Marcus Wade. He answered on the third ring. She could hear a ton of noise in the background.

“What’s happened? You’ve only been gone for three hours.”

“Hey. Had a break. Marias’s husband decided to talk. She’s a house cleaner, works for Executive Cleaners. Long story short, Marias found the money and a wig while she was cleaning, completely by accident. She took some cash with her as proof to report the man to us, but she didn’t think we’d believe her. She’s been sitting on that money for two weeks. Finally decided to come forward, but from what I can piece together, she decided to tell the robber herself first, plead for him to turn himself in. He refused.”

“That wasn’t smart.”

“No, it wasn’t. He must have been watching her, hoping she didn’t turn him in. When he saw that she was, he had no choice but to stop her. Marias wouldn’t tell her husband the man’s name, so we cross-checked all the clients of the cleaning service with DMV and found the Jaguar. It’s registered to a Douglas Bowerman. He’s a freaking lawyer, of all things. Nice house. But he’s going under, the bank foreclosed on him. He got desperate. We got paper, went to arrest him, but he had other plans. Barricaded himself. He’s got a wife and kids in there. I take it you’re watching?”

“Yeah. Think Keller will be able to talk him out?” Joe Keller, their hostage negotiator, was a tough, no-nonsense cop, and a great favorite of Taylor’s. She had trained for SWAT and had worked with Keller many times. Sam didn’t know him as well, but had faith that if anyone could end this peacefully, Keller was the man.

“Honestly? I don’t know. He’s been volatile so far. It was just a matter of time before someone got hurt.”

“You’re sure it was him driving the Jaguar, not his wife?”

“I’d like a chance to ask. But I don’t know if I’m going to get that. Hey, I gotta go. They’re going to toss in some flash bangs, see if they can’t roust him.”

“Good luck. Stay safe.”

Marcus hung up and Sam dangled the phone between her fingers for a few minutes. Keri watched her, rolling her hands together.

Sam put the phone back on the hook and viewed the television for a minute. There was a flurry of activity, and the reporter looked scared.

So much for things ending well.

“You geared up?” Sam asked Keri.

“You think we’ll be needed? I’m supposed to be off in twenty minutes.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. These things don’t usually work out, not when it’s a criminal with nothing to lose. He’s most likely already killed one person. There’s no good way out.”

“Dr. Loughley, I know I’m on duty tonight…but I was hoping… I sort of have a Christmas party I’m supposed to attend. My boyfriend’s company get-together. Though if you need me, I’m happy to stay.”

Of course she did.

“Go on, then,” Sam said. “Have fun.”

Keri rewarded her with a wide smile. Sam remembered what it was like to be excited about a date. She’d like to recapture some of that for herself. Karma…