Their Summer Heat by Kitty DuCane Page B

anything?” Max asked.
    “No. I just walked in two minutes ago. I did inform Connors. He’s on his way.”
    “Where’s Dan Wallace?” asked Max.
    “Who?”
    “The security detail I put on her.”
    Logan scanned the lobby, looking for the type of guy who screamed don’t-fuck-with-me, but only saw anxious husbands, mothers, dads, and a few adults with children. Then the men’s room door opened, and he spied Mr. Wallace. The man walked with purpose and confidence and didn’t stop until he stood toe to toe with Max.
    “Mr. Preston. Dan Wallace.” He offered his hand, first to Max and then to Logan. “I apologize for the incident with Miss Heat.”
    Logan’s throat tightened at the bloodstains on the sleeves of Wallace’s jacket and the front of his white shirt. Damn, there was a lot of it, and it was all Summer’s.
    Max dragged a hand across his face. “Tell us what happened.”
    In under a minute, they relived her terror, and Wallace obviously felt terrible that it occurred on his watch.
    “Don’t beat yourself up, Mr. Wallace. You can’t protect someone who doesn’t cooperate,” said Logan. He turned to Max. “We should have told her,”
    “She called you a bird dog, by the way,” said Max.
    Wallace grinned. “I’m sure she had other names for me. And she wants to know how I found her. I told her to ask you.”
    “Great,” muttered Max.
    Logan’s cell rang. He pulled it from his pocket and stared at the screen. Fear crept along his skin. “Son of a bitch.” Logan flipped his phone around to Max and Wallace.
    You can’t have her. I’ll kill her first !
    Max’s phone beeped, too. Logan watched his brother’s face and knew Max had gotten a chilling message, as well. He showed Logan the contents and then Wallace.
    I can get to her at any time .
    “Son of a bitch!” screamed Max.
    The other patrons murmured and cast chastising frowns in Max’s direction.
    “It’s obvious he doesn’t want to kill her…yet. He’s toying with you two,” said Wallace.
    Logan agreed. “It could have been a knife to the liver, heart, spinal cord… If he wanted to do real damage, he could have done so quite easily.”
    “Which means she’s not safe until we catch this lunatic,” said Max.
    “I’ll have my connections see if they can trace your emails, but something tells me this Jack is slick as snot.”
    “I need ‘round-the-clock eyes on her,” said Max.
    “No problem. As soon as she’s settled, we’ll sit on her. We need to limit the number of people who have access to her room, narrow it down to one or two nurses per shift, plus her doctors. The hospital can provide pictures of the staff for visual verification.”
    Connors and Bates arrived, and Wallace told them what Summer had said, and then they showed the detectives the messages Logan and Max had received.
    Bates cleared his throat. “Where were you two this morning between midnight and three?”
    Logan jerked his head up as a heavy feeling settled in his belly. Max muttered a curse.
    “We were at home…in bed…with Summer…all night,” said Max.
    Connors arched a bushy brow. Bates rolled in his lips. Wallace didn’t even bat an eye.
    “And when she’s well, you can ask her,” continued Max.
    “No one saw you?” asked Bates.
    “No,” answered Logan. “Who has alibies when they are sleeping?”
    “Do you two know Amber Holcomb?” asked Connors.
    “Yes,” said Logan. “But I haven’t dated her.”
    “Me neither.”
    “Was there a message on her wall?” asked Logan.
    Bates nodded as he pulled his phone. When he found the picture, he flipped it around.
    Ugly bitch!
    “Can you tell us if it’s written in blood? Since you think we’re the killers, we already know the answer,” said Max.
    Logan grinned. They couldn’t argue with that statement.
    “Yes. It’s probably the vic’s. And all three were raped.”
    “You get any semen?” asked Max.
    “Nope,” said Connors. “Bastard used a condom and either flushed it