Hot for You (3 page)

Carilyn’s sense of disappointment vanished.
“He seems like a nice guy.”

“He’s a
great
guy.” Leigh smiled. “And
I seriously think he’s got the hots for you.”

“Yeah, right.” Carilyn rolled her eyes. “Even
if he did, I’m only going to be here a month.” She moved her
attention to the living room. “Your home is gorgeous, Leigh.”

“You might be inclined to stay,” Leigh said
with a laugh, ignoring Carilyn’s attempt to change the subject.

“Not happening.” Although she was single now
that Sam had left her to join the Peace Corps, and her mother and
stepfather had retired in Florida… There wasn’t much tying Carilyn
to Kansas anymore.

Leigh put her hand on Carilyn’s arm. “How’s
everything with your anxiety?” Leigh asked quietly. “This car fire
didn’t trigger anything, did it?”

“No.” Carilyn shook her head. “I’ve made a
lot of progress and I haven’t had a panic attack in well over a
year now.”

“Good.” Leigh gave Carilyn a quick hug. “It’s
so great to see you.”

“I’m happy to be here,” Carilyn said with a
smile. She turned and stepped from the rug in front of the door
onto the tiled floor. “I love how you’ve decorated.”

“It’s taken a lot of remodeling to get it the
way I want it.” Leigh’s blonde hair swung about her shoulders as
she turned and headed toward an archway. “Come on and I’ll show you
the place and then we’ll sit down and you can tell me what happened
to your car.”

Leigh had beautiful antique furniture in
every room. She always wanted Carilyn to go antiquing with her,
wherever they traveled.

As they walked through the living room,
Carilyn spotted a photograph of herself, Leigh, and their friend
Misha from their sorority days. Carilyn laughed. “I have this same
photo, framed and in my bedroom.”

With a smile, Leigh said, “It’s my favorite
of the three of us.”

After Leigh had given the tour of the house,
she led Carilyn to the kitchen. Leigh had a thing for roosters and
chickens in her kitchen décor.

“Coffee?” Leigh turned on her Keurig. “I’m
dying for a cup.”

“I’d love some.” Carilyn held back a yawn
that suddenly came on. “I could use a little stimulation. It was a
long drive out here.”

Leigh offered Carilyn a choice of flavored
coffee and used the individual serving cups to make Carilyn a cup
of Belgium chocolate and butter toffee for herself.

“I bought ice cream.” Leigh set the cups of
coffee on the table before heading for the freezer.

“Chocolate?” Carilyn asked hopefully.

“Do you even have to ask?” Leigh took a
carton of dark chocolate ice cream from the freezer and grabbed an
ice cream scoop out of a drawer. She told Carilyn where to find the
dessert bowls and spoons.

Carilyn set the dishes and silverware on the
kitchen table then took a seat. Still standing, Leigh put two big
scoops of ice cream into each of their bowls.

When she’d seated herself, Leigh grabbed a
spoon. Carilyn took a bite and gave a blissful smile. “I needed
this.”

“I’ll bet.” Leigh dug her own spoon into her
chocolate ice cream. “Okay, tell me about your car.”

Carilyn sighed. “I arrived two hours early
and couldn’t get hold of you so I went to a café called the
Hummingbird.”

Leigh frowned as she picked up her cup of
coffee. “You called?”

Carilyn nodded. “Several times.”

“My phone never rang.” She set down her
coffee to dig in her pocket then pulled out a cell phone. When she
looked at it she shook her head. “Damn, it’s dead. Forgot to charge
it.” She set it on the table. “You could have come straight
here.”

“I probably would have eventually,” Carilyn
said. “I just didn’t want to drop in when you weren’t expecting
me.”

Leigh brushed her comment away with her hand.
“You didn’t need to wait. You should have come on over.”

Carilyn took a drink of her coffee then
shrugged. “Maybe it was a good thing so that my car didn’t catch
fire right in front of your house.” She gritted her teeth. “I lost
my laptop. I’m going to have to build everything from the ground
up.”

“I’m sorry, Cari.” Leigh frowned. “Did you
have everything backed up? Or was your backup in the car, too?”

“Everything is backed up.” Carilyn nodded. “I
keep everything on an off-site server. It’ll take some time to
download everything and get it set up, but I’m grateful I took care
of that before I left.”

“Thank goodness,” Leigh said.

Carilyn set the cup down and absently ran her
finger around the rim. “I think the firefighters found something in
the car that makes them think it could be arson.”

Leigh’s eyes widened. “Arson?”

With a nod, Carilyn said, “Not officially.”
She explained to Leigh about the object, that Cody had asked her if
she had Barbie dolls, and how he wouldn’t talk with her about it.
“Something to do with ongoing investigations. He said he wasn’t
even sure the object was a Barbie.”

“That’s scary.” Leigh was frowning. “I
haven’t heard of any cars catching on fire before.”

Carilyn’s gaze narrowed. “But you’ve heard of
other fires?”

A light dawned in Leigh’s eyes. “There have
been some suspicious fires around Prescott over the past couple of
months. Three that I know of.”

A shiver trailed Carilyn’s spine. “Were
Barbies involved?”

“I haven’t heard anything about dolls being
involved.” Leigh appeared to be thinking it over. “Maybe it’s one
of those inside clues like you see on crime shows that isn’t made
public.”

Carilyn looked down into her coffee mug.
“Maybe so…”

“So tell me everything you are able to,”
Leigh said, drawing Carilyn’s attention to her.

“Not really much to tell beyond that.”
Carilyn spooned some of her ice cream. “Went into the café and had
a bite to eat, came out and the car was smoking and then burning.
Like I mentioned earlier, Cody happened to be eating at the
restaurant the same time I was, and apparently came out on my
heels.” She shook her head. “One moment I was trying to dial 9-1-1
and the next he was rushing by and calling the fire department on
his radio.”

“Nothing like being rescued by a sexy
firefighter.” Leigh smiled. “Speaking of sexy firefighters, I don’t
suppose you met my boyfriend. His name is Mike Lawson.”

“I was in a little bit of shock, so I’m not
sure if he was there,” Carilyn said.

“I’ll introduce you to him.” Leigh ate
another bite before she said, “I’m going to make a batch of cookies
and we can take them to the fire department before I leave for
Europe. I usually bake the guys something once or twice a
month.”

“You always did like cooking and baking.”
Carilyn raised her spoon. “You were the best cook in the whole
sorority.”

With a laugh, Leigh said, “That’s probably
how I got in to begin with.”

Carilyn grinned. “Not only that, but it was
because you made the best homemade ice cream ever.”

“I knew it.” Leigh waved her spoon. “It was
always about the goodies.”

Carilyn set her own spoon in her bowl and
said more seriously, “It’s really good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Cari.” Leigh gave
Carilyn a teasing look. “Now to find a way to get you to stay. I
think I’ll have a talk with Cody McBride.”

“Don’t you dare,” Carilyn said. “Besides, I’m
tired of men.”

“Sam hurt you that badly?” Leigh asked
quietly.

Carilyn paused to consider. “I loved Sam and
still do…but it’s a friendly love, nothing more. It was a shock
when he told me he was going into the Peace Corps.” She sighed as
she thought about the last couple of years. “I miss him terribly,
but I’m moving on with my life. We’ll always be good friends, it
just won’t be what I thought it would.”

“Well, if you’re moving on, I know just the
cowboy fireman for you.” Leigh had a gleam in her eyes.

“Cowboy fireman, huh?” Carilyn smiled. “And I
thought he was sexy as a firefighter. Now that I know he’s a cowboy
too, that changes everything.” As the gleam brightened in Leigh’s
eyes, Carilyn held up her hands in a “whoa” motion. “I was just
kidding.”

“Ha!” Leigh’s grin was wicked. “Behind every
joke is a grain of truth.”

“Not this time.” But even as Carilyn shook
her head, she couldn’t help thinking of the incredibly sexy
firefighter/cowboy. Despite what she’d said to Leigh, she couldn’t
deny that she really might like to get to know him better.

***

On the trip back to the firehouse, Cody kept
thinking about Carilyn and how much he was attracted to her. It had
been a long time since he’d had such a strong reaction to meeting a
woman—hell, he didn’t remember ever feeling this attracted to
anyone. She was the kind of woman a man wouldn’t be able to keep
his hands off of once he had her.

Damn, she was cute with her fiery red hair,
clear green eyes, and that sprinkling of freckles across her nose.
From what he’d seen of her, she had a sweet personality and he had
a feeling she was a kind and generous person—he was usually right
on with first impressions. She had also handled all that had
happened well, considering her car had been torched and her
belongings destroyed in the fire.

He pictured the moment the women had gotten
together. From the enthusiastic way she and Leigh had greeted each
other, it was obvious they were very close. Now why did Carilyn
look so familiar to him when she’d never been to Prescott? He
didn’t forget faces. It was going to drive him crazy until he
figured it out.

He’d wanted to ask her out, but had found
himself tongue-tied, something he’d rarely experienced with the
opposite sex. The only other time he could remember was when he’d
asked Mindy Hoffer to the senior prom—and that had been a very long
time ago.

If given a second chance with Carilyn, he
hoped he’d have the balls to ask her out. Why the hell he felt like
a love-struck teenager around her, he had no idea.

When he arrived at the fire station, Cody
took a quick shower and put on clean clothes. He headed out to the
bay while lost in his thoughts. He had a few things to take care of
and he always took care of things when they needed to be done.

Mike Lawson walked into the station just as
Cody was finishing checking his turnout gear.

“Hey, Lawson,” Cody called out, catching the
other firefighter’s attention.

Mike gave a nod and headed in Cody’s
direction. “What’s up?”

“Saw Leigh earlier.” Cody hung his helmet on
its hook above his other gear.

“I heard.” Mike grinned. “She mentioned that
she thought you might have a thing for the gal who’s going to be
housesitting for her.”

Feeling a little sheepish, Cody shook his
head. “That obvious, huh?”

Mike hooked his thumbs in his front pockets.
“Leigh thought so.”

“How about meeting at the Highlander for
drinks this Friday night? Bring Leigh.” Cody braced one hand on the
fire truck. “I’m off that day.”

“I’ll arrange it.” With an amused look, Mike
added, “And tell Leigh to bring her friend, right?”

Cody grinned. “You’ve got it.”

“Tell me about the car fire.” Mike sobered as
he changed the subject. “Leigh had the impression from her friend
that it could be arson.”

Cody gave Mike the details. “Looks like it
could be the same bastard,” Cody said as he finished.

Mike’s expression turned hard as Cody spoke.
“We’ll get him,” Mike said, determination in his voice.

Cody nodded. “You’re damned right we will.”
He thought about it a moment as he raised his ball cap and pushed
his fingers through his hair. “So far we don’t have a motive and
the only consistent thing between all of the fires is the fact that
a doll was left at the point of origin.”

Mike nodded. “That’s not enough.”

Cody set the cap back on his head. “It sure
as hell isn’t. Damn, but we’ve got to find him before someone gets
killed.”

It wasn’t until Mike had left that Cody
finally remembered where he’d seen Carilyn before. The last time
he’d been in Leigh’s home he had seen a photograph with her, Leigh,
and another woman. Even then he’d thought she was cute.

He shook his head. At least that mystery was
solved.

As he left his gear and the truck behind to
head from the garage into the fire station, he came to a complete
stop as a thought occurred to him. All four businesses and homes
had belonged to women. All of the Barbie dolls had different
colored hair and the different shades matched each woman’s own
hair. A blonde woman owned the dress shop, the dance studio was
owned by a brunette, the home was owned by a woman with black hair,
and then the redheaded Carilyn owned the car.

Why hadn’t he seen it before? It had been the
red-haired doll, whose hair matched Carilyn’s, which had given him
the new piece to the puzzle.

He frowned at the implications. The arsonist
might hate women and he might be targeting women in general. Or he
could be fixated on each woman involved.

Anger burned inside him. The sonofabitch,
preying on women.

Cody pushed away any thoughts that what he’d
come up with could be coincidence. His gut told him that dolls with
hair matching each woman was no damned coincidence. The fact that
each woman was beautiful was probably no coincidence, too.

Instead of heading into the common room, he
went into the office and seated himself in the office chair in
front of the large screen computer monitor. After entering his
password on the keyboard, he opened files for all four victims and
arranged them on the screen so that he could see them all at once.
The notes for Carilyn’s case were already there as his iPad had
automatically synced the information with the computer system. He
skimmed through the contents of each file. From the interviews he’d
conducted, there were no other common threads, nothing that could
be considered a viable lead.