Page 29 of Hot For You

He moved away from the office chair. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him, not ready to tell him she could likely hack into his computer with minimal trouble with her skillset.

She eased into the chair and scooted it up to the computer. His wallpaper was a picture of the ranch taken after a rain, with water glistening on blades of grass and the sky reflected in the water puddles on the ground. “It looks like a professional photographer took the picture you’re using for your wallpaper,” she said to Cody.

“An old friend stopped by the ranch and took it,” Cody said. “She’s an amateur, but her work looks professional.”

Carilyn nodded. “It sure does.”

“You probably aren’t going to feel like spending a lot of time on the computer,” he said. “But regardless, take a break after an hour at most.”

“Okay, doc.” She smiled. “I’ll lie down if I start to feel bad and I’ll take that mandatory break when it’s time.”

“Good girl.” He rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Do you have your cell phone?”

She dug it out of her pocket and held it up. He took it from her and pressed a few buttons. “I’m putting my number in your contacts.” When he finished, he handed the iPhone back to her. She took it and saw “Cody McBride” listed in her contacts along with a phone number beneath it. “Call me if you need anything.” He stressed the last word.

“I will.” She held up her fingers and crossed them. “Promise.”

He surprised her by bending over and kissing her on top of the head and then drew away. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

She smiled at him as he looked at her one more time then turned and walked out of the office. She stared after him, enjoying the backside view like she had done the first time she’d ever seen him. Damn, he was hot.

Rolling her eyes up to the ceiling she mentally shook her head. This was ridiculous. She sighed and looked at the beautiful photo wallpaper of the ranch. It was a beautiful place.

She pulled up the Internet browser, went to her email client, and logged in. She wasn’t surprised when she saw a hoard of emails and she groaned. Trying to focus on the screen while she had a concussion was bad enough. Maybe she’d just come back to it later.

Just as she was about to close out the browser, the title of an email caught her attention. She frowned as she looked at it. The sender was “Firebug” and the subject line was “Redhead.”

She moved the cursor and clicked to open the email. Her blood went cold and chilled her veins when she saw the four words in the body of the email.

* * *

You’re next, Carilyn Thompson.

Chapter 11

Carilyn chewed her thumbnail as she stared at the email. She hadn’t chewed her nails since she had suffered from a panic disorder all those years ago, but the email had brought on the sudden burst of anxiety.

* * *

You’re next, Carilyn Thompson.

* * *

What did it mean? Who was “Firebug”? Was he the person who had torched her car? How did he know her name? How had he found her?

The questions blew through her mind, making her head ache even more. She took deep breaths and slowly blew out through her mouth, trying to calm the jittery feeling that was taking over her body.

Okay. She wasn’t a hacker for nothing. She could trace this sonofabitch down. All she had to do was calm herself, put on her analytical cap, and find him.

The IP address led her nowhere and she didn’t have the software she needed to take her very far. Still, she did everything she could. The person who’d sent her that email was good at hiding his tracks from what she could tell. She was going to have to get on her own laptop, install software, and dig deeper.

When she’d gone as far as she could go, she leaned back in the office chair. Her head was splitting and she was having a difficult time focusing. It hadn’t helped her search not being able to think clearly thanks to the concussion.

Being busy trying to track “Firebug” down had kept the anxiety at bay. But as she sat in the chair staring at the email again, panic started to claw its way up her throat. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists on the desktop. She was not going to let this person destroy the years of hard work it had taken to get to where she was now.

Again she took deep breaths and let them out slowly. She worked to focus outward and not on the way her skin was crawling and the tight ball forming in her chest. She swallowed and unclenched her fists before clenching them again.

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