Page 3 of Hot For You

Carilyn brought the phone up to her ear and heard the call go straight to voicemail. She sighed and disconnected the call. “Leigh must be having problems with her phone or forgot to turn it on.”

“After you give your statement to the police and I finish up here, I’ll give you a ride to her place and we can see if she’s home,” he said. “It’s not far.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a little smile. “If it isn’t too much trouble.”

He got up from his crouched position and held out his hand. “Not at all.”

She took his hand. It felt warm and dry and tingles raced through her. She hurried to release his hand when she was standing.

He checked the trunk and sure enough, her suitcases were in ruins, too. A sick feeling made her gut feel like it was churning.

She answered a few more questions about the fire and was unable to give the firefighters or police any idea of how the fire started. Her stomach sickened as she looked once again at the charred carcass that had once been her vehicle.

“Will you be okay here?” he asked. “I’ll finish up and then we can head over to Leigh’s.”

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

Cody felt a stirring in his gut as he looked at the beautiful Carilyn Thompson. Something about her had him wanting to comfort her and learn everything he could about her.

He shook the thoughts away and was just about to walk away from Carilyn when a voice came from behind him, calling his name. “McBride.”

Cody turned and looked at Bill Johnson. “What’s up?” he asked his friend and fellow firefighter.

“You need to check this out.” Johnson waved Cody toward the car.

Cody gave a nod to Carilyn then left her sitting on the curb. He went to the car, and looked in the open door. He knelt, studying something on the floorboard. Damn. He hadn’t expected this.

Cody frowned as he straightened and faced Johnson. “Has anyone touched it?”

Johnson shook his head. “Exactly as we found it, on the floorboard.”

Due to the head fire investigator’s accident at one of the arsonist’s fires, Cody had taken over as the lead. He had a degree in fire, arson, and explosion investigation, which was now being put to good use.

Cody’s features darkened as he looked at the car. They’d already secured the scene and set up a command post so he wasn’t concerned about the evidence being disturbed. The firefighters were all professionals and took care not to disrupt the scene more than they’d had to while putting the fire out.

This was most likely another case of arson as it appeared that what Johnson had found was in fact a Barbie doll. It sure as hell looked like it could be. The arsonist had struck three times prior to this, but this was the first car he’d targeted. Every fire had been started differently, from causing an electrical fire in a dress shop, to tampering with natural gas in a home’s kitchen, to pouring gasoline around a dance studio and starting it with a match.

Dolls were the only things that connected the crimes. One had been left at each scene at the point of origin, in a small fireproof glass wool tube, so that they were not burned beyond recognition.

This however, was the first time they’d found what appeared to be a doll with no tube protecting it. If it was a doll, they were fortunate it hadn’t been burnt completely. The police hadn’t released the information about the arsonist’s signature to the public so it couldn’t be a copycat.

Maybe they’d get lucky and would find someone who had witnessed an individual leaving the scene.

Some time later, after observing and collecting evidence, Cody stood apart from the car and entered his notes on his iPad. He moved his gaze from the tablet to the car, to study what was left of the vehicle. He pictured the crime in his mind. Someone had broken the passenger side window, which hadn’t been visible from where Carilyn had been standing when she watched her car burn.

A homemade incendiary device had been dropped through the broken window, landing on the passenger seat. A Barbie doll had been thrown onto the driver’s side floorboard. The doll should have completely melted, but the fire hadn’t come close to it. The heat had been enough to make it almost unrecognizable, though. Almost. Part of the doll’s hair had survived and was clearly a vivid red despite the smoke and heat damage.

When he finished, he turned to see Carilyn sitting on the curb again. Earlier he’d noticed her talking with a police officer. Cody would have to ask her a few questions, too.

He walked to where she sat and looked down at her. “No luck, I take it, in getting hold of Leigh.”

She shook her head. “Still no answer.”

“I’ll get you to her house.” He held out his hand and she took it. As he helped her to her feet he met her gaze. Damn, but she had the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. He’d always had a thing for redheads and her hair was a pretty shade of red-gold.

Carilyn pulled her hand away from his and he reluctantly let it go. He’d liked the feel of her hand in his.

She looked up at him. “You don’t need to take me to Leigh’s. I know you’re busy.”

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