Page 19 of Secret Stalker

“You’re being stubborn. At least let me call a security company. They could assign bodyguards—”

“I’m fine, Max. Really. In spite of how things seem, I assure you I can and do usually take care of myself.”

And then she was gone, taking her armload of towels with her.

Footsteps sounded in the hall and Dillon stuck his head in the door again. “Hey, man. One of the Piggly Wiggly suspects at Blount Memorial is already out of surgery. The chief wants me to head over there to question him the moment he wakes up, preferably before he asks for a lawyer. But Marcia Knolls is at the hospital being checked out, too, and already saying she wants to cut a deal, so I’ve got my hands full. Everyone else’s plate is loaded already. Can you help me out?”

“You bet.” Max grabbed his clean shirt and yanked it over his head.

Dillon hesitated. “Could be an all-nighter. You sure you don’t want to hang here? With Bex?”

Max stared at him. “You sure you want to ask me that question?”

Dillon held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, I had to ask.”

Max glanced at his watch. Almost shift change for the uniformed officers. He grabbed his cell phone out of its holder. “Did I see Jake Cantor outside earlier with the other uniforms?”

“I think so, why?”

“Can you ask him to meet me in the living room on your way out? I need to ask him something.”

Dillon gave him a long look, then sighed. “All right. Keep your secrets. I’ll send him in. Make it quick though. I’ll meet you at my truck.” He headed down the hallway.

Max did a quick internet search on his phone. When he found what he was looking for, he made a call, then went into the living room. When he spotted Officer Cantor standing by the fireplace looking impatient, he strode to him.

“Hey, Jake.”

“Max. What’s up? I was about to head back to the station to finish my reports for the shift change.”

After a quick look around to make sure that Bex wasn’t within earshot, Max said, “If you don’t mind putting that off for a little while, I need your help. I’ve hired a bodyguard service to keep an eye on Miss Kane. But I need someone to watch over her until their guy gets here. I know you do security work on the side sometimes. I’ll pay your fee—”

“No way, man. Keep your money. I can wait until your guy gets here. Not a problem. I take it Miss Kane doesn’t know about this?”

“No. And I don’t want her to. She sort of has a phobia about the police. Or at least, Destiny police. She refused our protection. So I can’t ask the chief to assign anyone.”

He looked confused over Bex’s distrust of the local police, probably because he wasn’t around back when Bobby Caldwell was killed—and the chief threw Bex in jail.

“Okay,” Jake said. “This stays on the down-low. Like I said, not a problem. Give your bodyguard my cell number. I saw Miss Kane out on the lawn talking to one of the other detectives a few minutes ago. I’ll keep an eye on her until he gets here.”

Max shook his hand. “Thanks, Jake. I owe you one. When you talk to this guy, stress again for me that he and his team need to make sure Bex, Miss Kane, doesn’t spot them. They need to be invisible.”

“You got it.”

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