Free Hot for You by Cheyenne McCray Page B

sigh. “Right now rest sounds
good.”
    “I’m going to let you sleep for a couple of
hours.” He gently stroked her hair from her face. “I’ll wake you up
to check on you then.”
    “I’m fine.” She sighed. “I’ll just relax a
little.”
    In a matter of moments she fell asleep, her
breathing becoming slow and even.
    He watched her until she fell asleep, her
features relaxed, the tension in her forehead vanishing. She was
beautiful with loose tendrils of her hair around her face, the
sprinkling of freckles against her pale skin. She was a little too
pale, but she should be fine with some rest.
    Tension had formed in his chest the moment
she was thrown from the horse, and the tension had stayed. He’d
invited her to go riding and she had ended up being in an accident
and was now injured. He gritted his teeth. Thank God it hadn’t been
any worse.
    He shook his head. It was possible Carilyn
would focus on the negatives of his lifestyle because of the
accident. He wouldn’t blame her, but he hoped that wouldn’t be the
case.
    With one last look at her, he got up and left
her to sleep. He headed outside to take care of Holly and Molly in
record time so that he could check on Carilyn again.
    When he returned to the house, he looked in
on her and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He walked away
from where she lay and headed through the archway to his office. As
he reached his desk, his cell phone rang. He drew it out of the
holster on his belt as he settled in his seat.
    The caller ID told him it was Reese. “How’s
it going?” Cody asked as he answered.
    “I have an update for you on the arsonist
case regarding Janice Barnhart.” Reese sounded grim. “We found her
vehicle abandoned in the Bradshaw Mountains. There’s no trace of
her with the exception of her purse, which was left in the
car.”
    Cody frowned and started to pace as he spoke.
“Any chance she’s just out for a walk?”
    “Her car is covered in at least a week’s
worth of dust and pine needles,” Reese said and then added, “We
located her parents in Phoenix and they haven’t heard from Ms.
Barnhart in a week. Her parents said she usually contacts them on
Sunday afternoons. They hadn’t been too worried because she has
missed a Sunday or two in the past.”
    Reese’s mouth tightened as he continued,
“Janice told her parents that she would be in town this week
working on designing a new dress shop that she plans on opening in
the fall. Her parents said she would have told them if she was
going out of town.”
    “Damn.” Cody bit out the word as he paced his
office. “This doesn’t sound good.”
    “It sure as hell doesn’t,” Reese said. “I
obtained a warrant to search her apartment and the living room was
a mess, indicating there could have been a struggle. But it’s
possible she could just be a messy person. Toiletries were in the
bathroom, the clothes closets and drawers were full, there were
suitcases in the coat closet, an almost full gallon jug of milk in
the fridge, which was filled with groceries, and any number of
other clues that tells us she wasn’t planning on an extended stay
anywhere else.”
    Cody pushed his hand through his hair in
frustration. “What now?”
    “We’re treating it as a missing person’s case
and we’ve started a search,” Reese said. “We’ve started locally and
if nothing turns up we’ll be searching the area where we found her
car.”
    Cody leaned back in his office chair. “Thanks
for keeping me up to speed.”
    “No problem,” Reese said. “I’ll be in touch
if I have any news.”
    When he’d disconnected the phone, Cody
absently flipped the cell phone in his hands as he thought about
what Reese had just told him. Did Janice Barnhart’s disappearance
have anything to do with the arsonist? Were the other victims of
the arsonist in danger, too?
    He gritted his teeth. Damned if he was going
to let anything happen to Carilyn.
    * * * * *
    Carilyn’s head ached so badly