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“I didn’t do anything wrong! Please go away.”

The fear in her voice is evident, and a small part of me feels bad for having to do this. That’s not normal for me. I may be the nice one out of Forge and I, but I take my job seriously and don’t give in or feel bad for criminals. Sympathy does not get in the way of me doing great detective work. There’s just something about Raewyn that has me questioning my instincts.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. You’re a witness, and we need your statement.”

“I don’t know anything!”

“We have reason to believe you do. I’m sorry, but it’s the law. If you don’t come out here and talk to us freely, we will have to arrest you and I really don’t want to do that.”

I wait a beat. Then a little longer.

A little longer.

Come on. Open the door.

Don’t make me kick it down.

I’m not sure she’s going to come out, and I think we’re going to have to move onto the next step. More force.

Then the door opens an inch, and between the crack of the door and the frame, I see one bright blue eye staring up at me. Light blue like the ocean. Filled with actual terror. Not the kind you can fake. The kind that only comes when you are truly terrified of something.

And then something else happens.

Something unexpected.

The scent of oranges fills my nose, a hint of rosemary lingering in the background. My chest warms, and my stomach swirls with heat. I take another breath, unable to help myself, and the feeling intensifies. It's like something inside me has finally settled, even though my heart is racing and every instinct I have is screaming at me to get closer to her.

Every part of me wants to kick the door open and take her into my arms. To hold her against my chest and make sure nothing can hurt her. Ever. It's an overwhelming feeling, one I've never experienced before, and it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. I don't even know this woman—and she’s a suspect. So why does the thought of her being afraid bother me so much?

And then it hits me.

The way her scent calms me while somehow making me restless at the same time. The need to be near her. The strange feeling that I've known her far longer than I actually have.

There's only one explanation.

She’s my scent-match.

Chapter Nine

Raewyn

Every part of my body is screaming at me to leave the door locked. Hide. Run away—again.

But there’s nowhere to go. Not from here. I’m too high up. Jumping out of this window would result in broken bones, and the fire escape is out the kitchen window. The only way out is through the door. Past the detectives. And they’d never let me go.

I’m stuck.

I saw them from the window before they came in, so I know they aren’t the men from Tiger’s house that day. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t involved. There could be a bunch of them in on this, not just the two I saw. In fact, it makes sense that they would send someone else, someone that I wouldn’t have seen. They don’t want to risk me recognizing them.

I’m not certain that I was seen that day, but there is a chance, so I need to keep that thought in the back of my head. I can’t be naive when it comes to this. I need to keep myself safe.

Trinity noticed the car following us from the clinic and knew right away they were cops. It was the same car that followed us when I went to the clinic and the same one she saw lingering in the parking lot. She said they “give off cop vibes,” whatever that means.

But all of that means I had to come clean. I had to tell her the truth about what happened.

I told her everything.

She hugged me tight and promised that everything would be okay.