Hot For You

by Cheyenne McCray

  A link was embedded in the email. First she replied to Lord with a brief thank you note, then clicked on the link. The link took her to a secure site where she used her personal passcode and downloaded all of the software she needed. That included the tracking software as well as incredibly sophisticated anti-spyware not available to anyone but the elite hackers who had developed it. She had been one of the developers, so she knew it backward and forward.

  The whole time she worked to get what she needed, she continued to think about the email from Firebug, wondering what it said this time.

  Someone pounded on the hotel room door and Carilyn startled, knocking the glass of water over. Cold fear iced her veins. Could it be Firebug?

  As she stared at the door, she automatically picked up the laptop as water spilled onto the desk’s surface.

  Ignoring the water pooling on the desk, she got up from her seat, still holding the laptop. A knock sounded at the door again and she flinched.

  She set the laptop on the bed and slowly walked to the door. Her heart pounded like mad as she looked through the peephole.

  Relief flooded through her followed by shock when she saw who was there.

  She opened the door, her eyes wide. “Sam?”

  “Hi, baby.” He grinned at her. “Surprise.”

  She stumbled over her words. “How—what are you doing here?”

  His blue eyes glinted with amusement. “May I come in?”

  “Oh.” She brushed her hands down the blouse and jeans she had purchased yesterday before the laptop. She opened the door and stepped out of the way. “How did you find me?”

  “Don’t I get a hug hello?” He was still grinning. He was five-ten with a runner’s physique. He had frequently run marathons before going into the Peace Corps.

  “Of course.” She let him take her in his arms and hugged him back. “It’s good to see you, Sam.”

  When they parted, he held her by the shoulders and looked her. His grin faded into a frown. “Something’s wrong. What is it, Cari?”

  She didn’t want to explain why she was on edge. She didn’t need to worry him, too.

  “I’m okay.” She tried for a smile but couldn’t make it. “What are you doing? How did you find me? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Peace Corps for a while?”

  “Remember that Find My iPhone application that we installed back when we were dating?” he asked. “It led me right to you. As far as the Peace Corps, I signed up for a short-term technical assignment to get my feet wet. If I liked it I was going to sign up for a long-term assignment.”

  She felt a stab of irritation that he’d tracked her down using a phone app they’d installed when they were dating. “You should have called.”

  “I did. Twice.” He had the same perpetual air of cheerfulness as he almost always had. “I had to see you.”

  She tried not to frown. “Why?”

  He cupped her face in his hands. “I came back for you. I can’t bear to be parted from you any longer.”

  She stared at him in shock. He caught her completely off guard as he brought her to him and pressed his mouth against hers. She tried to pull away, but he was so strong. She put her hands on his chest and pushed.

  He stepped back, still holding her arms. “You haven’t forgiven me for leaving you.”

  “That’s not it.” She held his gaze. “Let’s sit down.”

  She stepped away from him and sat on one end of the mattress of the king-sized bed with its tangled sheets and bedspread. He sat several inches from her and they faced each other.

  She reached out and took his hands in hers. “I’ve found someone else.”

  He stared at her in astonishment, no longer looking happy. “You’re with another man?”

  She gave a slow nod. “I met someone here, in Prescott.”

  His forehead wrinkled as he frowned. “You haven’t been here very long, have you?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not long at all.”

  “Then how do you know it’s real?” Sam gripped her hands. “What you and I had—we were together a long time and you know it was real. We were so good together.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “You left me. I was hurt, but I got over it.”

  “Did you really?” he asked as if he didn’t believe her. “What we had was special.”

  She tried to remove her hand from his but he had a firm grip on it. “Yes, it was special,” she said quietly. “But you left, and I moved on.”

  “Give me another chance.” He gave her a pleading look. “It can be good again.”

  “I told you, Sam.” This time she was able to extract her hand. “I’m in love with someone else.”

  He got to his feet, took both of her hands and pulled her to her feet. He gave her a hug. “I’ll always be here for you, Cari. If he hurts you in any way, I want you to call me.”

  “Cody’s not going to hurt me.” She thought about the fact that she was supposed to be going back to Kansas City in just a couple of weeks—if anyone was going to do the hurting, it would be her. Right now she felt like she was being torn in two.

  She pushed all of those thoughts aside. She wasn’t going to worry about any of it for now. She smiled. “Thank you, but I’m going to be all right. I’m a big girl.”

  Sam brought her into his embrace again. “I’ve missed you, Cari. I wish I would never have let you go.”

  She let him hold her for a moment, breathing in his familiar scent and feeling his comfortable embrace. She wondered if she did love him still but as she thought about him leaving and going back to Kansas, she felt nothing but fondness for him.

  A click and the sound of the door opening had her pushing Sam away. She jerked her attention to the doorway to see Cody standing there, staring at her and Sam.

  The look on Cody’s face was one of betrayal and anger.

  “Cody.” Carilyn stepped out of Sam’s grasp. “This is not what it seems.”

  “Is that him?” Sam asked.

  Carilyn rounded on Sam. “This is Cody.” She turned to Cody. “Meet Sam. I’ve told you about him.”

  Cody’s expression was hard. “Your ex-boyfriend. Or at least I thought he was your ex.”

  “He still is.” She stepped away from Sam and went to Cody. “Sam tracked me down using the Find My iPhone app we installed back when we were dating. He surprised me.”

  Cody’s eyes were narrowed. “Looks like that was quite the welcome.”

  “For Heaven's sake.” Carilyn put her hands on her hips. “He was giving me a goodbye hug.”

  Sam walked to where Cody stood and held out his hand. “I’m Sam Anthony.”

  “Cody McBride.” Cody took Sam’s hand and the two men looked like they were going to start arm wrestling.

  Carilyn swiped loose strands of hair from her face that had escaped her French braid. “Please, let’s talk this out.”

  The men nodded to each other and released their grips.

  Sam smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sorry I dropped in on you like this, Cari. I now know that wasn’t a good idea.”

  “It’s been good to see you.” Carilyn held out her hand and Sam took it. “Give me a call later. Maybe we can all go out for dinner.”

  Sam released her hand and his gaze flicked to Cody and back to Carilyn. “I doubt if that’s a good idea. I have a hotel room at the Best Western. I’ll head back there and see if I can get an early flight to Kansas tomorrow.”

  Carilyn couldn’t help but feel bad that Sam had come all the way here to find she was in love with someone else. “Have a good trip back,” she said softly. “Keep in touch.”

  “I will,” he said, but the look on his face told her she wasn’t likely to be hearing from him for some time, if ever again.

  “Bye, Sam,” she said as he opened the door.

  He gave one look at her, nodded, and closed the door behind him.

  The room was silent as he turned to face Cody. He was studying her. “Something is wron
g,” he said.

  She frowned. “I already explained the situation with Sam.”

  “I’m not talking about that.” He shook his head. “There’s something bothering you.”

  “Oh. You’re right.” She walked to the bed and picked up her laptop. “I got another email from Firebug.”

  They sat on the edge of the mattress as she opened her laptop, put in her password,

  Her heart was pounding as she pulled up her inbox again. She moved her cursor over the sender’s name and clicked on Firebug. She held her breath as they read it.

  Sweet Carilyn,

  A special video just for you.

  Your admirer,

  Firebug

  Heat flushed over her at the way he’d called her sweet and had labeled himself an admirer. Bastard. She glanced at Cody and his eyes were narrowed.

  The embedded URL was a YouTube link. “Let me verify the link does in fact go to YouTube,” she said. After she confirmed it, she pulled up the video.

  Cold replaced the heat that had burned through her when she saw the title of the video.

  You’re next, redhead.

  Cody clenched his hands into fists.

  The user who’d uploaded it was named Firebug, and it was one of two videos he’d uploaded.

  Her hand trembled as she moved the cursor over the play button.

  The video was crisp and clear of a Barbie doll sitting on a pile that looked like burnt matchsticks. A flaming match was lowered by a hand with stubby fingers and then dropped onto the little pieces of wood.

  Fire whooshed up, encompassing the Barbie. Carilyn stared in horror as the blaze consumed the doll and bile rose up in her throat. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t look away as the flames melted the Barbie, contorting its features, destroying it, and she fought the urge to throw up.

  She didn’t know how long she watched but finally the fire died out and a message appeared in place of the ruined mess.

  “That sonofabitch.” Cody’s tone was hard, his words a growl as he watched. “I need to call Reese.”

  Then on the screen words appeared.

  You too will burn, sweet Carilyn Thompson. You will burn.

  Her stomach clenched and again she almost retched.

  Cody’s expression was one of fury. He hit the play button, studying the video a second time. Carilyn looked away.

  “Here. Look at this.” Cody pointed to the screen. “See the ring he’s wearing?”

  She squinted at the screen. “A blue stone and two snakes.” She glanced at Cody. “It looks very unusual.”

  “I’m going to go after that bastard and make him wish the police had locked him up.”

  “You need to leave that to the police.” Carilyn suddenly felt fear inside her that Cody might confront Firebug. “It’s too dangerous to go after him yourself.”

  Cody didn’t respond, but his scowl had deepened as he pulled his cell phone out of its holster. He hesitated as he looked at the screen again. “There’s another video uploaded under the same user name.”

  Her heart set to pounding again as Cody took the laptop from her and pulled up another video. He pressed play and then they saw an image of a woman gagged and bound to a support beam. A Barbie doll with blonde hair was positioned beside her.

  “My God,” Cody said in a rough voice. “That’s Janice Barnhart.”

  Skin prickling, Carilyn wanted to ask who Janice was, but instead a scream almost tore from Carilyn’s throat when she saw the woman suddenly engulfed in flame and crying out behind her gag for help. Carilyn clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

  “Don’t watch.” Cody closed the lid of the laptop.

  But it was too late. Carilyn continued to see the image of the woman burning, could hear her muffled screams. The scene was burned into her brain and tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Was that real?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

  “I’m afraid it was.” He put an arm around her and held her close. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  She clenched her eyes shut but opened them again when the scene played even more vividly behind her eyelids. She felt panic rise inside her like a flock of birds. What if Firebug did come after her? What if he set her on fire, too?

  Cody pressed a speed dial number on his phone and put it to his ear. “Reese,” he said a moment later. “Are you near a computer? It’s urgent.”

  For a few seconds Cody listened, then said, “Go to YouTube and type in this phrase.” He paused, clearly waiting for Reese. “Okay. The phrase is ‘You’re next, redhead.’”

  A moment later, Reese’s voice was so loud with anger that she heard him say, “Sonofabitch.” He sounded like he wanted to punch something. “How did you get this link?”

  “Carilyn got another email.” Cody’s voice was hard. “But that’s not all.” Cody looked at Carilyn as he said, “There’s another video uploaded by the same user who calls himself Firebug.” Cody waited a moment. “Got it? Good.”

  A minute’s pause and then Carilyn heard Reese curse even louder.

  Cody listened. “I’ll meet you there.” He disconnected the call then punched in an address on his cell phone’s map application. He faced Carilyn. “I’m going to meet Reese. He has an idea where the second video was shot.”

  She put her hand on Cody’s arm, trying not to show the panic that had her on edge. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” He looked at her. “Stay in the hotel room, okay?”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She had an arsonist to track.

  They both stood from where they’d been sitting on the bed and she left her laptop on the mattress.

  He gave her a big hug. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he murmured before giving her a gentle. He walked out of the hotel room, closing the door behind him.

  ***

  Chapter 22

  Cody had to force himself to slow down as he drove to the address outside of town that Reese had given him. His rage had been multiplying with every additional thing that happened with the arsonist.

  The warehouse was fifteen minutes from the hotel he and Carilyn were staying in. When he reached the warehouse, he recognized Reese’s unmarked vehicle along with a police cruiser. Cody parked off to the side and walked into the open warehouse door. Reese met Cody at the entrance as he walked in.

  “I’ve got backup on the way.” Reese nodded to a corner of the warehouse where his partner, Detective Kelley Petrova, was examining the scene with two uniformed officers. “There’s evidence that something was burned in here recently.” He looked like he had to control his expression. “If the video is as real as we think it is, that bastard is a real sicko.”

  Two more police cruisers and another car pulled up as they were talking. Reese said, “Wait here.”

  While Reese spoke with the officers, Cody stepped further into the dim warehouse. He caught a charred sickly sweet odor that could only be the remnants of the stench of burnt flesh.

  In moments, Reese returned to where Cody waited and the newly arrived police officers started working over the scene. They walked to where two forensics guys were examining the floor. The petite and pretty Detective Petrova stood close by.

  Reese started to speak when something metal banged hard on the concrete floor, the harsh sound echoing through the warehouse. Both Cody and Reese looked to see one officer with a crowbar beside a fifty-gallon drum and another with a flashlight pointed down as he looked into a barrel. He drew back, coughing, looking like he was ready to puke, but managed to hold back. Cody recognized the officer as his cousin and Reese’s brother, John.

  “Reese.” John motioned Reese and Petrova to come to him. “I think there’s a body here, wrapped in a tarp. It sure as hell smells like it.”

  John nodded to two officers who pulled the tarp-covered object out of the drum and placed it on the concrete floor. When the officers had untied the rope, they let the tarp fall open.

  “Looks like we found the victim,” J
ohn said. “Or what’s left of her.”

  Detective Petrova, Reese, and Cody looked at the body. The stench was so powerful that Cody’s stomach convulsed and he came close to vomiting. Seeing the body—burnt beyond recognition—didn’t help. If he hadn’t seen the video earlier, he might have lost his lunch.

  “Call the M.E.,” Reese said.

  John had his radio out. “Already on it.”

  A hard cold rage swelled up inside Cody. “That’s probably her.”

  “We won’t know until DNA tests come back.” Reese and Cody walked away from the barrel as Reese spoke. “But I have a feeling you’re right.”

  Cody was glad to get away from the body. The last time he had seen Janice Barnhart he’d thought she was a pretty, vivacious blonde. Despite having lost her business to the arsonist, she’d had a surprisingly positive attitude. Seeing her being burned alive on the video not only made him furious, but it made him feel ill. What kind of sick fuck did this to women?

  Even though Carilyn was tucked away safely in the hotel room, Cody couldn’t help but feel like he should be at the hotel with her. An urgency rose up inside him that he couldn’t explain. He needed to get back, and he needed to go now.

  * * * * *

  When Cody left, Carilyn took a towel out of the bathroom, mopped up the water on the desk, then set her laptop onto its surface.

  All that had happened kept churning through her, making her nauseated. The explosion, Sam showing up, Firebug’s email, the two videos, and Cody off at some location that could be a trap for all she knew.

  She couldn’t stop images from pounding in her mind so much so that her head ached with it all.

  It didn’t do any good worrying about things. What would be productive would be to track down Firebug. She signed onto her laptop and copied Firebug’s email address without re-reading the email then minimized the windows for her email and Internet so that she didn’t have to see Firebug’s name and the video. She would have exited out of the email client and the web browser, but she wanted them to be handy for Cody if he needed them. His own iPad and computer had been lost in the explosion, so he’d had to purchase them new again. He hadn’t had time to set-up either of his electronic devices.