Page 46 of Hot For You

Nathan’s cell phone rang, jolting him out of his thoughts. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Of course it was his mother. No one else called him.

“Hi, Ma.” He tried to inject a little enthusiasm in his voice, but it wasn’t easy. With her health failing, it tore at him every time he talked with her. Even after all she’d done, he still loved her. “How are you doing?”

“Not so good.” Aggie sounded sour. “Why haven’t you come to see me?”

“I will, Ma,” he said. “Soon, I promise.”

Her tone was sharp. “You haven’t bothered to come here for a while. You don’t give a damn about me.”

“I love you, Ma,” he hurried to say. “It’s only been two weeks.”

“Only two weeks?” The shrillness of her response made him wince.

“I’m sorry.” He knew better than to make excuses and he knew better than to stay away so long. He just hated to see her looking so sickly and he hated visiting the rest home with all the sick old people in it. “I’ll be there this weekend. I promise.”

“What did I do to deserve a boy who doesn’t care about his own mother?” She grew even shriller.

A sick feeling settled in his belly. “I love you, Ma,” he said again. “I’ll see you Saturday.”

“I don’t feel so well.” Now she sounded pathetic, as if the energy she’d expended yelling at him had weakened her. “I need to lie down.”

“I’ll see you in a few days,” he said before she hung up.

Heart heavy, Nathan headed to the table where his scrapbook was open with his latest find front and center, and he pushed away thoughts of his mother.

It had been a risk, but he’d gone back to Leigh’s house to get the picture of Carilyn with Leigh and some other slut. He’d grabbed it on his first trip there but had set it down and forgot to take it with him until he was already home, but he hadn’t dared to go back right away. He ran his finger along the edge of the picture as he wondered if Carilyn had noticed the photo was missing when she went back.

He glanced at a TV monitor next to his computer. He had mounted a camera across the street from Leigh’s house, on a neighbor’s home, aimed at Leigh’s front door. Carilyn had finally shown up again today…unfortunately it had been with McBride.

He’d thought of booby-trapping the house to go up in flames if anyone came back, but that wasn’t personal enough. No, he planned on having some one-on-one time with Carilyn.

Perverse pleasure had him flipping through the pages of his scrapbook again. He found the page with the picture of Janice just moments before he had fried her. He liked seeing her tied up, fear in her eyes while he set the Barbie beside her. At that moment he hadn’t intended on killing her, but it had happened and he couldn’t say he was sorry.

It was almost a shame no one would ever see the scrapbook. It was filled with so much detail that he felt a lump of pride in his throat every time he looked at it. Each step he’d taken was well-documented. He loved looking over the details of his triumphs and reliving every precious moment.

With each page he flipped through, his smile broadened. The beauty of the fires he had set was enough to bring tears to his eyes. In each photo, he could almost see the lovely orange and blue flames dancing, hear the crackle and hiss as the fire burned, feel the caressing heat, and smell the acrid odor of the smoke. Beautiful.

He reached Carilyn’s section. In the photos, her hair looked like flame against her pale skin. In one image she was watching her car as it burned. The look of shock on her face made her somehow even more beautiful to him.

In contrast, the photo with her, Leigh, and the other woman showed a happy Carilyn with laughter in her eyes. What had she been thinking when that picture had been taken? About some dick boyfriend?

He scowled. He couldn’t wait to teach her a lesson when he had her all to himself.

When he got to watch her burn.

Chapter 17

“I had no idea that Arizona has a wine country,” Carilyn said to Cody as he helped her into the wine tour company’s black Excursion SUV limousine in front of the Hummingbird. She had never been in an SUV limo before, and she was amazed at how large an interior it had and how luxurious the butter-soft leather seating was.

“There are vineyards and wineries across the state.” Cody settled into the seat next to her as the limo driver closed the door behind him. “I thought you might enjoy a tour of our wine country.”

“I’m sure I will.” She smiled as she opened the brochure the driver had given her. “This says, ‘according to the Wall Street Journal, the Verde Valley is an emerging hotspot vying for Napa-like status.’”

“It’s been some time since I’ve been on one of these tours.” Cody glanced out of the window as the limo started to move. “The last time I went was a few years ago with a good-sized group.”

“This is my first time on any wine tour,” Carilyn said. “Do we have this huge limo all to ourselves?”

“I know the owner.” He shifted in his seat and grinned. “Let’s just say she gave me a great deal.”

---