Chapter Thirteen
“You know this violates like a hundred department policies, right?” Brenda, the evidence processing manager, sighed after Lamar made his request and dropped the sample he’d collected in the garage on her desk.
He winked at her. “But you’ll do it, right?”
Brenda sighed again, heavier. “Those eyes ought to be illegal, but, yeah, since you don’t need a full report, I can run it for identity match this afternoon. You’ve got the case markers of the other samples?”
Lamar handed her the list he’d carefully prepared.
Brenda glanced over it, her eyes widening. “You expect me to find Genov’s DNA in one?”
“That’s the only thing I’m sure of,” Lamar confirmed. “You’ll have him on file.” The crime lab kept a file on every member of the force to rule out crime scene contamination.
“I guess I can figure out why we’re keeping this off the record for now.”
Lamar nodded. “The other contributor will probably be just a trace. If you can get me gender and species, that’ll be perfect for now.”
“Right.” She gave him a curious look. “And then you want that compared to the trace contributions to the DOA from the motel. You think they have the same killer?”
“Not sure yet,” Lamar admitted. “There’s a lot of weird crap going on here.”
“And the results?”
“If you can call me, that would be great. Keep them, though. I fully expect to be making an on-record request in the next few days, so that’ll save you a step.”
“All right, gorgeous,” Brenda agreed, blowing a teasing kiss across the desk. “Keep your ringer on.”
~*~
A single clap of thunder was Lamar’s only warning before the dark clouds that had been building through the morning opened, targeting the earth below with large drops of rain that splatted as they landed, soaking everything they touched.
By the time Lamar turned into his driveway, rain was sheeting down and running into the rivers that flowed along the curbs. Cursing himself for not keeping an umbrella in the car, he dashed across the lawn, concentrating on trying to dodge the water streaming through the saturated fall leaves that the ancient oak tree in the center of the yard hadn’t released yet. When he got to the scant protection of the front porch, he stopped short. A small person, soaked to the bone and shivering in a thin, wet t-shirt, was huddled in the driest corner.
“Aeren?”
The boy looked up but he wasn’t able to speak through his chattering teeth.
“Shit, you’re freezing.” Lamar shrugged out of his leather jacket and wrapped it around the boy’s shoulders, then punched the code into his electronic deadbolt. “Come on in.”
Grateful that he’d upgraded his old wood burning fireplace to a gas insert, he flipped the switch that brought the flames to life with awhooshand led the boy over to it. “Stay here while I get a towel.”
His long legs carried him through the house quickly. Pausing in the bathroom long enough to flip the taps that filled the tub, he grabbed two large bath sheets and returned to the hearth. Gently removing his jacket, he carelessly tossed it aside before setting to rubbing the towel briskly over the shivering boy. Once he’d absorbed most of the water and the color had begun to return to Aeren’s cheeks, Lamar stepped back and hung the towel off the corner of the stone mantle.
“We need to get you warmed up,” Lamar said gently. “I’ve got a bath running.” He pointed to the second towel. “Take off your clothes and wrap up in that, okay?”
“Y..yes, sir.” Without waiting for Lamar to turn away, Aeren began to fumble with the button on his jeans, his fingers still shivering too much for him to grip it.
“Do you need help?”
Aeren nodded shyly.
Lamar swallowed, his throat suddenly dry at the thought of undressing the young man. Steeling himself, Lamar tugged the soaked t-shirt free of Aeren’s jeans and over his head, careful not to snag Aeren’s wet curls. Flicking the jeans button free, he knelt to remove the boy’s shoes and socks before tugging his jeans over his slim hips and baring him to the flickering firelight.
Dropping the jeans on top of the shoes on the stone hearth, Lamar forced his eyes away from the pink cock bobbing enticingly close to his lips and stood, reaching for the towel and wrapping Aeren in it.
“There you go,” Lamar said, his voice unusually gruff. “The bath should be full by now. Come with me.”
Aeren followed him obediently down the hall. When Lamar stopped by the tub and turned to face him, he had to swallow a groan. Aeren had already dropped the towel and stood naked before him.
