It left Syon sitting, which was a torment he was unprepared for. Kate was lying in a hospital, and he was stuck in a plastic chair.
Yeah, he was going to kill someone.
* * *
“Ms. Napier, I need you to help me protect other innocent women from becoming the victims of this sort of crime.”
Kate drew in a deep breath. Her head was splitting, the light from the ceiling feeling like a laser beam carving up her brain.
“Who gave you the drink?”
“Deputy Jenson?” Forcing her brain to function took a lot. The cop nodded, doing his best to give her a winning grin.
Not a chance, mister. She could see the calculating look in his brown eyes. “I had one drink. Backstage.”
“Who gave it to you?” he pressed.
The curtain suddenly moved aside. “You don’t have to answer that question.”
A man in a sharp black suit walked up to the foot of her bed and extended a business card to the deputy. “I’m here to represent Ms. Napier and ensure she has proper time to recover before making any statements. The attending doctor assures me she is in no condition to be questioned at this time, and any information you have obtained will be considered tainted by her condition.”
The deputy slowly stood up. He took the card, his actions stiff. “Tell your clients I’m going to do everything in my power to lock them up. Maybe I can’t keep their kind out of my county, but when they bring date rape drugs with them, I’m going to see them charged.”
“Syon is my boyfriend. He doesn’t have to drug me,” Kate protested.
“Ms. Napier has nothing further to say at this time.”
The newly arrived lawyer managed to get Deputy Jenson out of the room.
“Thanks. Where’s Syon?”
“Being released from jail.”
Kate blinked as that sank in.
“I’m Carl Pearson.”
She lifted her hand to shake his but stopped when she spotted all the bruises on her hand. Two of her fingers were swollen black and blue, but at least they weren’t broken.
“Maybe we shouldn’t shake hands today,” Carl said.
“Yeah. Can I get out of here?”
What she wanted was Syon. It was pathetic how much she wanted him near. She had no sense of time, and there wasn’t a window in sight. A low rumble of hushed voices came from outside her room.
“I’m working on getting you discharged. The doctor was considering having you admitted for observation, but he seems satisfied with your CAT scan and the promise you’ll seek medical attention if you have any vertigo or nausea.”
“Guess that explains the headache.”
Carl pulled his phone out of his pocket without a care for the “no cell phones” sign posted on the wall. He started texting someone as she took a moment to look at her hands and arms.
She was covered in bruises. Little ones from spike heels and larger ones that must have come from the guys in the audience. It was all still a haze, but considering how her arms looked, she decided she didn’t need to remember being trampled.
“Kate, sweetie—”
Her eyes had started closing again when she heard Percy. Or at least thought she did. It was a nice dream.
“Holy Moses!”
Kate opened her eyes, recognizing Percy’s brand of profanity.
Percy stood in the doorway, his eyes widening to the size of half dollars. “Oh my God! Someone needs to die.”
“What are you doing here, Percy?” she asked.
Percy came in with his husband, Steve, on his heels. “I got on the first plane I could, of course. That hospital gown is criminal.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” Kate protested, but Steve was carrying a duffel bag that he unzipped, pulling out a familiar-looking tunic. “I take it back. I really need people who understand me right now.”
What you need is Syon…
She tried to ignore her pitiful thoughts and focused on getting dressed because it took her one step closer to escaping the hospital.
Her knees shook when she stood up, and her back ached, but she took a couple of steps and then a few more, until she’d escaped the room. Percy and Steve were right outside the door.
“I really need to get out of here.”
She wasn’t going to mince words about it. She was desperate. The hospital was pressing in on her.
Percy and Steve took over, bundling her into a car and filling a huge bag of prescriptions before Steve slid behind the wheel of the rental car, but he didn’t start the engine.
“Now, Kate honey…”
She looked at Percy, recognizing his serious tone.
“We can go anywhere you want,” Percy said gently. “Home?”
“I’ve got a contract to fulfill.”
Percy made a little sound under his breath. “Cid spent a great deal of time making sure I recognized how much he understood your need to go home and recover.”
“Cid is an asshole.”
Steve flipped her a thumbs-up in agreement.
“He’s also trying to shove me off his turf.”
“While I agree with you,” Percy said, “I do have to admit that you look a little rough around the edges. I’d be completely insensitive if I didn’t offer to take you home.”
“You’d also call me a wimp, and I am not a wimp.”
Percy smiled at her. “Well…not out loud. At least not for a week or two.”
Steve drove her back toward the hotel they’d been staying at. The two Toxsin coaches were pulled up along the side of the curb, a steady line of polo-shirted team members bringing luggage out and storing it in the compartments underneath.
Cid made a beeline for her the moment he realized she was heading toward one of the coaches.
“Kate, I thought your partner and I came to an understanding.”
Steve started to come around the car, but Kate stepped up to deal with Cid. “An understanding would be great. I work here, and so do you. I don’t quit.”
Cid pushed his hands into his suit pockets and grinned at her. “Well…okay then.”
It was easier than she’d thought it would be, and left her feeling guilty for thinking he was such an asshole. The guy was doing his job. He was dedicated; there was no missing that. She needed to see the glass as half full.
“This is very nice,” Percy exclaimed as they made it up into the coach.
“I’d like to party here.” Steve winked at Percy.
Kate sat down on the sofa, her strength suddenly spent.
“Here.” Percy held out a glass of water and several pills. “You get some beauty rest and call me tomorrow.”
Kate handed the glass back when she was done and sent him a grateful look. “Thanks, guys. I’m sorry you came all this way.”
“Don’t be silly,” Percy said. “But I am going to have a little talk with that road manager for not having a release of liability on file for you. Where did he learn his job anyway? At least he flew us out here first-class.”
“He better have.”
She was getting sleepy and laid down on the sofa. There was a soft snap as Percy buckled one of the seat belts around her waist.
Relief went through her.
Okay, it was pitiful but true nonetheless. She was still there, still near Syon. The idea of being separated from the tour loomed over her like a thunderstorm as she drifted off to sleep.
But it wasn’t a deep one.
She needed something.
Someone actually.
She ached for him, yearning for him as she drifted half in and out of sleep.
Syon…
* * *
“She’s out.” Cid caught Syon’s arm as he launched himself at the steps of the coach. “Doc gave her a bag of prescription meds.”
Syon stopped, uncertain.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Percy exclaimed from where he was still standing near the coach. “Get in there, you big, glorious bruiser. You’d better be glad I’m gay, because you don’t know a thing about reading women.”
Syon blinked. “Where did you come from?”