Hot for You (23 page)

“You’re just as superficial as this doll,
aren’t you?” He had a hard edge to his voice and a nasty look on
his face. “Too good for someone like me.”

She barely heard him as she stared at the
doll, horror filling her. In the video with the woman he’d set on
fire, there had been a Barbie next to her. Carilyn’s stomach
churned. Was he going to burn her along with the doll, too?

Nathan returned to the pile of bomb stuff and
opened the other duffel. He brought out another box, smaller this
time. When he turned to face her, her stomach dropped. It was a box
of matches.

He took a match out and struck it on the side
of the box. The match burst into flame.

***

Arnie, the computer forensics tech, examined
Carilyn’s laptop as Cody talked with Reese in Cody and Carilyn’s
hotel room. They’d just searched the room for anything that could
be a clue to Carilyn’s whereabouts, but it looked like all they had
was the barista’s description and Carilyn’s laptop.

Reese’s hand was bandaged and spots of blood
had appeared where his fingers should be. If he felt pain, he
didn’t show it. His partner, Detective Petrova, had been ordered to
take time off because of the severity of her concussion and the
wound to her head. According to Reese, she’d fought with the
captain over it, but in the end lost the battle.

“There’s got to be some place that we can
start.” Cody dragged his hand down his stubbled jaws. “The longer
it is until we find Carilyn, the greater the chance that we’re not
going to find her alive.”

“We’re working on it,” Reese said, looking
grim.

Cody wanted to tear something apart,
anything. He wished Firebug were here so that he could let the
bastard have it.

“We’ve got something.” Arnie set a cell phone
down on the desk and motioned Cody and Reese over.

Cody’s heart rate jumped as he strode to
where Arnie sat. “Whatever this program is, it’s powerful,” Arnie
said like an excited kid with a new toy. “Unlike anything I’ve ever
seen. It gave me exactly what I needed.”

“Get on with it.” Cody couldn’t help the
gruffness in his voice.

“This Firebug guy hid his tracks so well that
it’s just amazing that this program got to him,” Arnie said.

“Just tell us what you found,” Reese said,
sounding as impatient as Cody.

“Got his IP address.” Arnie handed Reese a
piece of paper with a number on it. The name
Nathan Morris
and a Prescott address to a nearby apartment complex were on the
paper.

“You got all this from that program?” Reese
asked.

Arnie shook his head. “Had to do a little
digging of my own and make some calls too, but I’m ninety percent
sure this is your man.”

“Ninety is good enough for me.” Cody started
toward the door.

“Good job, Arnie,” Reese said over his
shoulder as he followed Cody. “Now check out that other ten
percent.”

Arnie saluted. “You’ve got it,
Detective.”

Cody looked at Reese who was grimacing as
they headed out the door. “Sure you’re okay to go anywhere with the
injury to your hand?” Cody asked.

“Think I’m going to let you go after this guy
without me?” Reese scowled. “No way in hell.” He took out his cell
phone and called for backup, giving the suspect’s name, the
description the barista had given Cody, and the physical
address.

Fortunately it was a relatively close
apartment complex, so it took little time to reach it. Cody wanted
to go straight to the apartment and beat down the door, but Reese
held him back until backup had arrived, which included John.

When everything was ready, Reese, Cody, and
the officers went to the apartment. Reese banged on the door.
“Police. Open up.”

No answer. Reese banged on the door and
called out again. Still no answer. He nodded to a pair of officers
holding a battering ram. It took two attempts to break in the door.
Wood splintered and the door swung open, now partially
unhinged.

Reese and the officers cleared the small
apartment. When they’d confirmed no one was there, Cody joined
Reese in looking through the area.

“Sonofabitch.” Cody looked at a bank of
monitors. One screen had Leigh’s house in view and another was on
the hotel that Cody and Carilyn were staying in. He recognized the
homes of Firebug’s other fire victims on screens as well.

“Look at this, Cody.” Reese’s jaw was set in
a firm line as Cody looked at him.

He moved to Reese’s side and saw what he was
looking at. “Holy shit,” Cody said, his gut clenching. It was a
scrapbook filled with pictures of the arsonist’s victims, their
homes or places of businesses on fire, surveillance photos, and
newspaper articles. There were multiple surveillance pictures of
Carilyn, her burning car, as well as the photo of Carilyn, Leigh,
and their friend that had been taken from Leigh’s house.

“We found these.” John McBride brought in
three duffel bags from the bedroom and showed Reese and Cody the
contents. One had several boxes with Barbies in it, another
contained glass wool tubes, and a third looked like it had enough
C-4 to blow up half of Prescott.

They continued to search the place for clues
as to where Firebug might have taken Carilyn, but they found
nothing.

Cody looked at Reese. “If her cell phone’s
on, we could track her.”

Reese blew out his breath. “With a
warrant.”

Cody clenched his hands into fists. “We don’t
have time for that.” His mind raced. How could he track her? Then
it occurred to him. Carilyn’s ex-boyfriend had tracked her using
the Find My iPhone app. He just needed to locate him. What was his
name? Sam…Sam… “Sam Anthony,” Cody said out loud.

“Who?” Reese said with a questioning
look.

“I think I know how we can do it,” Cody said
in a rush. He explained how Carilyn’s ex-boyfriend had tracked her
down. “I hope to God he’s still in town. He said he was staying at
the Best Western.”

Cody pulled his phone out of its holster and
called information. He didn’t have time to look it up on the
Internet on his phone. He was connected to the hotel right away and
he asked for Sam’s room.

A man answered on the second ring. “Sam
Anthony?” Cody asked.

“Yeah.” Sam sounded wary. “Who’s this?”

“Cody McBride.” His heart was beating faster.
“I don’t have time to explain but I’ve got to find Carilyn and I’d
like to track her with the app that you found her with. It’s an
emergency.”

“Why?” Sam’s voice was instantly filled with
concern. “What’s going on? What happened to her?”

Cody started walking toward the door and gave
a nod for Reese to follow him. “She’s missing.”

“Missing?” Sam repeated. “Explain.”

“I’m on the way to your hotel with the
police,” Cody said as he and Reese hurried to the stairwell and
through the door. “We think she’s been kidnapped.”

“Oh, my God,” Sam said. “I’ll meet you
outside the front entrance.”

“We’ll be right there,” Cody said and
disconnected the call.

Cody and Reese rushed to his car. Reese put
on the flashers and siren on his unmarked vehicle and they tore
through the streets to the hotel. The Best Western was within
minutes of the hotel that Cody and Carilyn were staying in.

Sam was waiting outside like he’d said.

“We’ll take your phone,” Cody said as he
rolled down the window and Sam hurried to the car.

“I’m going with you.” Sam jerked open the
rear door before Cody could reply.

“Stay in the car when we get there.” Reese
spun out of the parking lot. Clearly Reese felt they didn’t have
time to argue. “Give your phone to Cody.”

Cody took the phone and examined the
location. “Damn. The sonofabitch has her in the Bradshaws.”

Sirens going and lights flashing, Reese
called for backup as he tore through town toward the mountains.

Cody’s gut was churning. They had to find
Carilyn. She had to be okay.

For the first time in a long time, Cody
prayed.

* * * * *

Carilyn’s entire body shook as she watched
Nathan light matches. He looked at the flames like a lover watching
his mate remove her clothing, until the fire burned down to his
fingers. He dropped burnt matchstick after burnt matchstick into a
pile on a kitchen table.

Every now and then he would grin at her and
she knew he was toying with her, doing his best to frighten
her.

It was working.

She was tied up in a cabin, God knew where,
and no one knew where she was. She swallowed. Somehow she would
have to save herself.

How?
She bit the inside of her cheek
as she hopelessly strained against her bonds.
How am I going to
save myself?
Images of the woman being burned alive were seared
into her retinas and she could see it as if she was watching the
video now. The flames, the muffled screams behind the gag, the
terror…the body…

A tear rolled down Carilyn’s cheek and she
wished she could wipe it away before he saw it. She didn’t want to
show weakness in front of this bastard, but she hadn’t been able to
help herself.

Nathan grinned at her, affirming that he had
seen the tear and liked seeing her scared, that he reveled in it.
“It won’t be long, my sweet Carilyn.”

“Don’t call me that.” She glared at him. “I’m
not your anything.”

He chuckled. “I’d say you certainly belong to
me now.” He gestured around them. “Do you see anyone else? There’s
no one here who cares for you the way I do.”

“You pig.” A part of her snapped. “You’re
nothing but a loser who gets off on hurting and killing women.”

A clear change went over him and she
instantly regretted her outburst. “I’m going to enjoy watching you
burn,” he said in a nasty tone. With his brows narrowed, he went
back to lighting matchsticks.

Eyes watering, she looked at the camera he
had set up on a nearby tripod. He’d turned it on just before he’d
started lighting matches and it was recording everything…everything
but him. He was clearly out of the scope of the lens.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight. Dear God,
what was she going to do? Was she going to die here, burned alive
by this—this insane man?

“Watch me.” Nathan snapped the words. “Watch
or I’ll light you on fire now.”

Carilyn looked at him, a burn in her throat
and pressure behind her eyes. She tried to avoid his gaze and
instead stared at a crack in the wall just over his left
shoulder.

“Look at me, Carilyn.” Nathan spoke in a
warning tone as she heard the scratch of another match.

She swallowed and met his gaze, and then she
shuddered at the death in his eyes. Her death.

“Please let me go.” The tears in her voice
were impossible to avoid. “Please.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “It’s your fault, you
know.”

“How is it my fault?” she managed to ask.

He shrugged as he paused in lighting matches.
“If you hadn’t rejected me that night at Jo-Jo’s, I wouldn’t have
to do this.”

“I was with someone else.” A pleading note
was in her words. “I couldn’t just leave him.”

Nathan snorted. “You could have told him you
were leaving with someone else.”

“I would have hurt his feelings,” she
said.

“So instead you hurt mine.” He sneered. “It’s
okay to hurt me just because I’m not as good-looking as your
boyfriend.”

It’s because you’re a sadistic creep,
went through her mind. Instead, she said, “Maybe if I’d met you
first—”

“Shut up, bitch.” His expression grew darker.
“You’ll say anything hoping I’ll set you free.”

She bit the inside of her lip again, biting
it hard enough that she tasted blood, just to keep herself from
showing any more weakness.

The pile of matchsticks grew and he hummed to
himself. He looked extraordinarily pleased as he scratched
matchsticks on the box and watching each flame until it died
away.

“What could I do to make you happy?” She was
grasping at straws. “I’ll do anything.”

“Shout my name as you die.” He gave her a
look that told her he was aroused. “I can’t wait to hear your
screams while I watch you burn.”

Feeling sick to her stomach, she stared into
the flames as she watched matchstick after matchstick burn, knowing
it all would come to an end soon.

When he burned the last matchstick, he
scooped them up and set them on the chalk line, close to her feet.
Her terror grew as she watched him take gasoline and pour it over
the large circle that surrounded her.

He picked up the matchbox. “One match left.”
He smiled, a sick, satisfied smile. “You’ll get to watch the fire
burn in a circle around you,” he said. “Gradually it will close in
until you’re on fire, too.”

He struck the matchstick and held it over the
gasoline-soaked chalk line.

***

Reese, Cody, and Sam raced against time,
finally reaching the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Once Cody
had figured out that Carilyn had been taken, he’d stopped calling
her phone because Firebug, who he now was certain was Nathan
Morris, might hear it and turn it off.

For all Cody knew, Morris could have heard
the phone already and planted it someplace to send anyone trying to
find her on a wild goose chase. Cody prayed that wasn’t the case.
He prayed Carilyn was exactly where the phone app said she was.

“Dear God,” Sam said in a frantic voice and
Cody glanced over his shoulder at him. Sam’s face was pale and his
teeth were clenched. “Can’t you drive any faster?”

The car fishtailed as Cody turned his gaze on
Reese who said, “If we go any faster we’ll end up in the ditch. I’m
doing what I can without losing control on this road.”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest and
looked out the window. “Why did this guy kidnap Carilyn? I think
you should explain it to me.”