Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

The room emptied out. "What can I do for you?" he asked, stepping too close to her.

The stench of cigarette smoke and body odor assaulted her but she didn’t want to risk offending him by backing off. "I just thought you and I could finish our conversation from this morning."

"I don't have anything else to say." He folded his arms across his chest.

"That's not like you. How about we talk about your son?" She chose his favorite topic, knowing he'd couldn't stay silent for long.

"What about him?" Roy asked warily.

"I thought we could revisit how much he'd benefit from Vaughn's taking that coaching position."

Roy tossed the box cutter onto a windowsill and Annabelle breathed easier. He rolled his head from side to side as he contemplated her topic. Finally he nodded. "So I'm not the only one who thinks it Vaughn's life is football. He ought to make coaching a full-time job."

"So you thought you'd make your point, right?” she asked gently, hoping Roy was more delusional and misguided than violent. "You thought if you could just get Vaughn frustrated enough to give up on the lodge, he'd come to his senses and coach."

Roy narrowed his gaze.

"I know, Roy. When I saw you smoking, it clicked into place."

"You're just a dumb broad and you don't know what you're talking about." He spat on the floor her feet.

She stepped backward. "Unfortunately for you, I do. What do you think would happen if I gave the police the cigarette butt you crushed outside Cozy Cups and they compared it to the one they found at the fire's point of origin?" she asked, hoping she sounded sure of herself when she was anything but.

For one thing, she hadn't picked up Roy's butt this morning, and for another, she had no idea how a fire marshall determined what started a blaze. She didn't even know if they'd found the actual cigarette butt at the lodge. The only thing she was suddenly certain of was Roy's guilt.

His current pale coloring confirmed her already strong hunch. "Talk to me, Roy. Because you seem like a decent man. You love your son and you want what's best for him. Nobody can fault you for that."

His hands shook as his bravado and arrogant demeanor began to falter. "I didn't mean for it to go so far."

"I know you didn't." She reached out a hand but he didn't take it.

"Do you really understand? 'Cause all I meant was for little things to happen. Like missed deliveries, people not showing up for work. Even cutting the wires before the inspection was ingenious, wasn't it?"

"I'm not sure I'd call it that," she murmured.

Roy wasn't really listening. Though his expression was sheepish, his eyes glittered with barely veiled pride at his plan. "I knew I could get the place up and running again after that damage but I figured I wouldn't have to. That Vaughn would see he was meant to coach and that the lodge was nothing but one big hassle and not worth the headaches."

Annabelle nodded. "But it didn't work, did it? Vaughn was more dedicated to his dream than you thought, so you decided to torch the whole thing and end it once and for all?" Her mouth ran dry at the thought.I

"Hell, no!" Roy said, actually affronted.

From the corner of her eye, Annabelle saw Vaughn approach and quietly enter the room. She couldn't signal him to remain silent so she kept focused

on Roy and prayed Vaughn would stay in the background.

"What really happened last night? Tell me so I can help you."

Roy's hands waved fast and furious as he tried to explain. "It was supposed to be a small fire. Just a warning. A final frustration. But the wood's dry and it caught faster than I thought. By the time I got to my car to call the fire department from my cell phone, the north side was nearly gone and the fire engines were roaring in." He shook as he explained. "I never meant for it to be so bad. I felt so guilty and-"

Vaughn chose that moment to move forward. His boots creaked against the floorboards.

Roy lurched around, took one look at the man he admired staring at him as if he were pond scum, and all Annabelle's hard work drawing him out vanished in an instant.

In the second it took for Annabelle to look from Roy to Vaughn and back again, Roy had reached for his box cutter and pulled her tight against him.

She froze at the realization a frightened man had a blade against her throat.

"I never meant it to go this far. I swear I didn't." Roy's voice shook and Annabelle didn't know whether it was his sweat or tears she felt against her skin.